For almost as long as I've had this blog, I've been thinking about how I might end it. I should clarify. I started writing RwH contemporaneous with my move to the West Coast for law school in 2008. We had just beaten the Lakers for banner number 17, we were favorites to repeat, and almost a third of our games were nationally televised. Among my friends, interest in the Celtics was at an all-time high, and I started the blog to keep the conversation going with people who were suddenly several time zones away.
I knew then that this wouldn't last forever. At that time, recall, the conventional wisdom was that Boston had a three-year window. We managed to keep that window open an extra couple of years, and the end, while not as messy as I thought it might be, was sad. But here we are: on the eve of our season opener in Toronto, Ray got his second ring, at a ceremony in Miami; Doc's debut as the Clippers coach was ruined by fourth-quarter surged from the Lakers' bench (the rare Laker victory that didn't upset me, I'm somewhat surprised to admit); and Paul and KG are getting ready to open their season in Cleveland with their new team, the Brooklyn Nets. Meanwhile, Boston is ushering in a new era with a new coach and group of players who will struggle to be competitive this year.
I really should have ended it last year, when I started my new job; as is clear from the fact that I haven't posted since last February, I didn't really have time to devote to it. In my head, though, I thought we still had a chance, and I think a part of me didn't want to let Ray Allen dictate when I decided this era was over.
So I've been thinking a lot about a perfect ending. Maybe a long, soul-baring post about what basketball and the Celtics, especially these Celtics, mean to me. Or a countdown of the most memorable moments from this era. I struggled with the composition of both of these ideas, though, and my search for the idea close to this blog continued.
Recently, though, I've come to realize that perfect endings are exceedingly rare in basketball. The Celtics certainly didn't have one. Tim Duncan didn't get his, at least not yet. Phil Jackson didn't have one. It doesn't look like Kobe Bryant will get one.
Russell got one. Red got one. MJ got one, only he didn't take it. That's about it. RwH will be no different.
So, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read and to comment publicly and privately. Your kind words have meant a lot.
I'm going to leave this blog up for as long as I can, as a memento, and in case I decide I ever have time to start it up again. And to the extent that I continue to write about basketball, over at doctorslam.blogspot.com, I'll continue to write a disproportionate amount about the Celtics. I'll still watch all the games. But with the team less relevant and on TV far less often, the purpose -- to talk about the team with others who are following closely -- just isn't there anymore.
A final note: Every year, there are officiating "points of emphasis," rules that the league has instructed the officials to give special attention to, at least early in the season. There are five this year: 1) illegal screens, 2) contact on jump shots, 3) traveling, 4) discontinued dribble, and 5) delay of game (by touching the ball as it comes out of the net after your team scores, for example).
During the Magic-Pacers game Tuesday night, Quinn Buckner -- Indiana's color guy -- was discussing the delay of game emphasis, and singled out, among all NBA players, Kevin Garnett as the main perpetrator of this offense. Later, during the Bulls-Heat broadcast, Steve Kerr, the TNT color guy, referred to the emphasis on illegal screens as "the Kevin Garnett Rule."
Damn, I'm gonna miss that guy. And I'm gonna hate facing him.
Save us, Rondo. And thanks, again.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Boston 116, Los Angeles Lakers 95
Well, that was fun. In case you missed it, the Celtics ran away with this one in the third quarter. The lead had been double digits for most of the second period, but it got out of hand during a 49-second stretch during which Boston scored eight straight points. The spurt was highlighted by a Jeff Green dunk, followed by a Green block on the other hand that led to a fast break and a Paul Pierce three. I believe that put Boston up 21. They'd lead by at least 30 before coasting the rest of the way.
As comfortable a win as this turned out to be, it certainly didn't start the way. The Celtics were whistled for five fouls in the first two minutes, twenty-two seconds -- the fastest any team has found itself in the penalty since the Phoenix Suns on Halloween in 2000, according to the TNT broadcast. Two of those fouls were on Kevin Garnett, and by the end of the first quarter, his backups -- Jason Collins and Chris Wilcox, had five fouls between them.
This game affirmed for me, though, that Boston's recent hot streak is due not to some improved chemistry or ball movement in the absence of Rajon Rondo, but rather to an increased intensity and focus on the part of the entire team. Paul Pierce, in particular, came out sharper than he's been in weeks, draining a handful of pull-up jumpers in the first quarter.
However, with the exception of the third quarter -- when Boston shook off a few minutes of halftime-induced torpor to make 16 of 21 shots to blow the game open -- the Celtics didn't play well enough to enjoy such an easy evening. Indeed, this game said more about the Lakers' struggles than anything else. They couldn't take advantage of Boston's early foul trouble, they shot terribly, and their defense was nonexistent most of the night. The biggest indictment was the lack of ball movement. Steve Kerr harped on it quite a bit and so I won't rehash it here, but there was far too much one-on-one for a team quarterbacked by one of the league's all-time great point guards. The third quarter actually reminded me a bit of Game 5 of the 2010 Finals. Kobe Bryant -- who had been assisting at a career-high rate recently, which coincidentally has been L.A.'s best stretch of the season -- decided to try to take over offensively. And even as he hit a dazzling array of shots, each seemingly more difficult than the last, Boston's lead remained steady -- then blew up once Bryant's shots stopped falling.
Not that this is a novel opinion, but I think you can safely stick a fork in the Lakers this year. They don't appear to be anywhere close to figuring out how to play together, Dwight Howard is ailing, and Pau Gasol is going to be out at least 6 to 8 weeks. They aren't as far out of the playoffs as you'd think, but it's hard to imagine them turning it around any time soon.
As comfortable a win as this turned out to be, it certainly didn't start the way. The Celtics were whistled for five fouls in the first two minutes, twenty-two seconds -- the fastest any team has found itself in the penalty since the Phoenix Suns on Halloween in 2000, according to the TNT broadcast. Two of those fouls were on Kevin Garnett, and by the end of the first quarter, his backups -- Jason Collins and Chris Wilcox, had five fouls between them.
This game affirmed for me, though, that Boston's recent hot streak is due not to some improved chemistry or ball movement in the absence of Rajon Rondo, but rather to an increased intensity and focus on the part of the entire team. Paul Pierce, in particular, came out sharper than he's been in weeks, draining a handful of pull-up jumpers in the first quarter.
However, with the exception of the third quarter -- when Boston shook off a few minutes of halftime-induced torpor to make 16 of 21 shots to blow the game open -- the Celtics didn't play well enough to enjoy such an easy evening. Indeed, this game said more about the Lakers' struggles than anything else. They couldn't take advantage of Boston's early foul trouble, they shot terribly, and their defense was nonexistent most of the night. The biggest indictment was the lack of ball movement. Steve Kerr harped on it quite a bit and so I won't rehash it here, but there was far too much one-on-one for a team quarterbacked by one of the league's all-time great point guards. The third quarter actually reminded me a bit of Game 5 of the 2010 Finals. Kobe Bryant -- who had been assisting at a career-high rate recently, which coincidentally has been L.A.'s best stretch of the season -- decided to try to take over offensively. And even as he hit a dazzling array of shots, each seemingly more difficult than the last, Boston's lead remained steady -- then blew up once Bryant's shots stopped falling.
Not that this is a novel opinion, but I think you can safely stick a fork in the Lakers this year. They don't appear to be anywhere close to figuring out how to play together, Dwight Howard is ailing, and Pau Gasol is going to be out at least 6 to 8 weeks. They aren't as far out of the playoffs as you'd think, but it's hard to imagine them turning it around any time soon.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Boston 99, Toronto 95
The Celtics are making it awfully hard to write this season off.
Boston overcame a ten-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to hold off the Raptors in Toronto. It was the team's fifth win in a row, and they are still undefeated since Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger went down with season-ending injuries. Kevin Garnett was the offensive hero for most of the evening, leading the team with 27 points, while Leandro Barbosa sparked the team in the crucial fourth quarter.
On the other end of the court, the Raptors missed a bunch of decent looks at mid-range and perimeter jump shots in the fourth quarter. That isn't particularly unusual for Boston opponents over the past few years. In previous seasons, the Celtic D was good enough that you could automatically give it credit for an opponent's bad shooting quarter, even if it wasn't entirely apparent what we were doing to make it difficult on the opposing team. This year's defense hasn't earned that right yet, though we're undoubtedly getting better at that end of the court. If I have an overall concern right now, it's turnovers. Paul Pierce is being asked to perform too many point guard duties. I get that he needs to be a playmaker, but even without Rondo, we have plenty of guards. Let's have them bring the ball up, at least.
Boston's current surge has them tied with Milwaukee for the seventh seed in the East (the Bucks have the tiebreaker, so as it stands, we're technically eighth). We're only two games back of Atlanta for the six, however, and more importantly, we're four games clear of our closest pursuer -- Philadelphia, who, by the way, still doesn't have Andrew Bynum and just lost Thaddeus Young for three weeks with a leg injury.
Rightly or wrongly, barring some sort of collapse during these last two weeks before the trade deadline, it may be this stretch that allows Pierce and Garnett to retire as Celtics. When Rondo went down, most felt that Boston's playoff chances went down with him, and the Cs were expected to shop their extensive veterans to contenders. But now Boston has a reasonable grip on that playoff stop. Dissembling a playoff team is hard enough, from a public relations perspective -- doing it just to cash in an all-time Celtic, and one of the team's most popular players in recent memory, might cause quite an uproar among Boston's vocal fan base.
Boston is back at it Thursday night, as the Lakers come to town in a game that, due to injuries, won't have quite the same luster it has had in recent seasons. LA, of course, is having a nightmare season of its own. Having added Dwight Howard and Steve Nash to Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, the Lakers were expected to contend for a championship. Instead, Nash got hurt, Howard and Gasol struggled to co-exist, and they fired their coach just a couple weeks into the season. Their playoff chances hanging by a thread as Nash returned, Howard injured, then re-injured, his shoulder, and has missed the last several games. To top it all off, the team found out Wednesday that Gasol would be out 4 to 6 weeks with a foot injury.
Still, it's LA-Boston, which means it's worth watching. Thursday night, TNT, 8:00 pm Eastern.
Boston overcame a ten-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to hold off the Raptors in Toronto. It was the team's fifth win in a row, and they are still undefeated since Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger went down with season-ending injuries. Kevin Garnett was the offensive hero for most of the evening, leading the team with 27 points, while Leandro Barbosa sparked the team in the crucial fourth quarter.
On the other end of the court, the Raptors missed a bunch of decent looks at mid-range and perimeter jump shots in the fourth quarter. That isn't particularly unusual for Boston opponents over the past few years. In previous seasons, the Celtic D was good enough that you could automatically give it credit for an opponent's bad shooting quarter, even if it wasn't entirely apparent what we were doing to make it difficult on the opposing team. This year's defense hasn't earned that right yet, though we're undoubtedly getting better at that end of the court. If I have an overall concern right now, it's turnovers. Paul Pierce is being asked to perform too many point guard duties. I get that he needs to be a playmaker, but even without Rondo, we have plenty of guards. Let's have them bring the ball up, at least.
Boston's current surge has them tied with Milwaukee for the seventh seed in the East (the Bucks have the tiebreaker, so as it stands, we're technically eighth). We're only two games back of Atlanta for the six, however, and more importantly, we're four games clear of our closest pursuer -- Philadelphia, who, by the way, still doesn't have Andrew Bynum and just lost Thaddeus Young for three weeks with a leg injury.
Rightly or wrongly, barring some sort of collapse during these last two weeks before the trade deadline, it may be this stretch that allows Pierce and Garnett to retire as Celtics. When Rondo went down, most felt that Boston's playoff chances went down with him, and the Cs were expected to shop their extensive veterans to contenders. But now Boston has a reasonable grip on that playoff stop. Dissembling a playoff team is hard enough, from a public relations perspective -- doing it just to cash in an all-time Celtic, and one of the team's most popular players in recent memory, might cause quite an uproar among Boston's vocal fan base.
Boston is back at it Thursday night, as the Lakers come to town in a game that, due to injuries, won't have quite the same luster it has had in recent seasons. LA, of course, is having a nightmare season of its own. Having added Dwight Howard and Steve Nash to Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, the Lakers were expected to contend for a championship. Instead, Nash got hurt, Howard and Gasol struggled to co-exist, and they fired their coach just a couple weeks into the season. Their playoff chances hanging by a thread as Nash returned, Howard injured, then re-injured, his shoulder, and has missed the last several games. To top it all off, the team found out Wednesday that Gasol would be out 4 to 6 weeks with a foot injury.
Still, it's LA-Boston, which means it's worth watching. Thursday night, TNT, 8:00 pm Eastern.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Sullinger Undergoes Back Surgery
Jared Sullinger, the rookie power forward who had forced his way into the starting lineup with his work on the glass, had apparently successful lumbar disc surgery on Friday. He's out for the year.
I'll get to the impact on this season in a minute, but the truth is, with Rajon Rondo going down with his torn ACL this week, this season is close to a lost cause. The biggest concern raised by this news is whether this surgery is the kind of thing that had doctors advising their teams to stay away from Sullinger in last summer's NBA Draft, a big part of the reason why the Ohio State sophomore fell from being a potential top overall pick and sure lottery selection all the way to Boston at 21.
Team doctors are saying that this is good for Sullinger, the idea being, I guess, that the surgery would relieve some pain or discomfort he'd been playing with for a while. That's encouraging, though I'm not sure I'd expect the team doctors to say anything different. During last night's broadcast, I also heard someone -- I think it was Doc -- say that they knew Sullinger would need the surgery, they had just hoped that it could wait until after the year.
It's not clear to me whether they knew that when they drafted him, or if that became apparent sometime during the summer, or training camp, or the season. Either way, we knew picking Sullinger was a risk, and I endorse the pick with the full understanding that his career could be over due to injuries before he could make any meaningful contribution to the team. Hopefully, we're not at that point already.
What concerns me most is that Sullinger already has what people sometimes call "old man game." The kid can barely jump, playing completely below the rim, relying completely on strength, guile, and his ample girth to hold off opponents for rebounds and score from strange angles. This could be considered a good thing, insofar as whatever athleticism this surgery may rob from him wasn't something he relied on to be effective. But looking down the road, what happens when he starts to get older and experience the natural deterioration that all players show? If he plays like he's 30 when he's 20, will he play like he's 35 when he's 25? This was a concern before the back surgery -- whether the procedure exacerbates it remains to be seen. But it was definitely the first thing that popped into my mind when I heard the news yesterday.
As for the rest of this season, the hits just keep on coming, I guess. Without Rondo, we were, at best, slight favorites to hang on to the eighth seed in the East, depending on whether Andrew Bynum comes back healthy for Philly. I honestly am not sure how much of an effect Sullinger's absence will have on Boston's postseason chances. Brandon Bass proved he could be a starting-caliber power forward year; his dropoff this season has been one of the bigger disappointments in a season that has been full of them. Bass isn't the rebounder Sullinger is, but he's adept at stepping in and taking the charge and in theory, anyway, his jumper is more consistent than the rookie's. (Though he hasn't been hitting it this year at all.) It means one fewer big body at Doc's disposal, which in turn means more "smallball" lineups with Paul Pierce, Jeff Green, and Kevin Garnett across the frontcourt. As someone who isn't a big believer in Green, that certainly concerns me, but to be fair, it's a lineup that Doc was likely committed to using more (especially in crunch-time) once Rondo went down.
What seems apparently early on here, though, is that Boston may already be in back-against-the-wall, play-as-though-your-season-depended-on-it mode. In previous seasons, Boston has sleepwalked through portions of the regular season schedule, the apparent attitude being that they'd wait until the playoffs, when the games really count, to exert themselves fully. With the current injuries putting the playoffs in doubt, that time is now. The Celtics have now won three straight without Rondo, beginning with the double overtime victory over the Heat last Sunday. True, their two most recent triumphs, Sacramento and Orlando, are bottom of the barrel squads this year, but these are the types of games that the Celtics, maddeningly, would drop all too often in recent seasons. (Heck, the Kings blew us out in Sacramento right after Christmas, a game I witnessed in person and wish I could unsee.) The last two times out, however, Boston has taken care of business, winning comfortably. The Celtics are dialed in a bit earlier this year, which means that the product is worth watching, even if the goals for the season have changed.
I'll get to the impact on this season in a minute, but the truth is, with Rajon Rondo going down with his torn ACL this week, this season is close to a lost cause. The biggest concern raised by this news is whether this surgery is the kind of thing that had doctors advising their teams to stay away from Sullinger in last summer's NBA Draft, a big part of the reason why the Ohio State sophomore fell from being a potential top overall pick and sure lottery selection all the way to Boston at 21.
Team doctors are saying that this is good for Sullinger, the idea being, I guess, that the surgery would relieve some pain or discomfort he'd been playing with for a while. That's encouraging, though I'm not sure I'd expect the team doctors to say anything different. During last night's broadcast, I also heard someone -- I think it was Doc -- say that they knew Sullinger would need the surgery, they had just hoped that it could wait until after the year.
It's not clear to me whether they knew that when they drafted him, or if that became apparent sometime during the summer, or training camp, or the season. Either way, we knew picking Sullinger was a risk, and I endorse the pick with the full understanding that his career could be over due to injuries before he could make any meaningful contribution to the team. Hopefully, we're not at that point already.
What concerns me most is that Sullinger already has what people sometimes call "old man game." The kid can barely jump, playing completely below the rim, relying completely on strength, guile, and his ample girth to hold off opponents for rebounds and score from strange angles. This could be considered a good thing, insofar as whatever athleticism this surgery may rob from him wasn't something he relied on to be effective. But looking down the road, what happens when he starts to get older and experience the natural deterioration that all players show? If he plays like he's 30 when he's 20, will he play like he's 35 when he's 25? This was a concern before the back surgery -- whether the procedure exacerbates it remains to be seen. But it was definitely the first thing that popped into my mind when I heard the news yesterday.
As for the rest of this season, the hits just keep on coming, I guess. Without Rondo, we were, at best, slight favorites to hang on to the eighth seed in the East, depending on whether Andrew Bynum comes back healthy for Philly. I honestly am not sure how much of an effect Sullinger's absence will have on Boston's postseason chances. Brandon Bass proved he could be a starting-caliber power forward year; his dropoff this season has been one of the bigger disappointments in a season that has been full of them. Bass isn't the rebounder Sullinger is, but he's adept at stepping in and taking the charge and in theory, anyway, his jumper is more consistent than the rookie's. (Though he hasn't been hitting it this year at all.) It means one fewer big body at Doc's disposal, which in turn means more "smallball" lineups with Paul Pierce, Jeff Green, and Kevin Garnett across the frontcourt. As someone who isn't a big believer in Green, that certainly concerns me, but to be fair, it's a lineup that Doc was likely committed to using more (especially in crunch-time) once Rondo went down.
What seems apparently early on here, though, is that Boston may already be in back-against-the-wall, play-as-though-your-season-depended-on-it mode. In previous seasons, Boston has sleepwalked through portions of the regular season schedule, the apparent attitude being that they'd wait until the playoffs, when the games really count, to exert themselves fully. With the current injuries putting the playoffs in doubt, that time is now. The Celtics have now won three straight without Rondo, beginning with the double overtime victory over the Heat last Sunday. True, their two most recent triumphs, Sacramento and Orlando, are bottom of the barrel squads this year, but these are the types of games that the Celtics, maddeningly, would drop all too often in recent seasons. (Heck, the Kings blew us out in Sacramento right after Christmas, a game I witnessed in person and wish I could unsee.) The last two times out, however, Boston has taken care of business, winning comfortably. The Celtics are dialed in a bit earlier this year, which means that the product is worth watching, even if the goals for the season have changed.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Boston's Last Stand
Sunday afternoon, the Celtics beat the Miami Heat 100-98, hanging on at home in double overtime. In so doing, they snapped a horrific six-game losing streak that involved dropping three games to sub-.500 teams (including two blowouts), two tough-luck losses to playoff squads (the Bulls and Knicks), and, most recently, a blown 27-point lead in a double overtime loss to the Hawks. This stretch, which followed a six-game winning streak, left Boston at 20-23 heading into the game with Miami, their grip on the eighth and final playoff spot seemingly loosening every day.
Given the above, the cynic would read the title of this post and chide me for being a more than a little bit late.
As I've said before, however, I refused to write off Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, and Doc Rivers. I acknowledged that the team's chances of making any noise in the playoffs were slim, but after last season, I wasn't going to rule anything out. Even with Pierce's noticeable decline, Garnett's ever-limited minutes, Rondo's general moodiness, and the inability of the restructured supporting cast to provide any sort of consistent contribution, I thought that those four guys were capable of pulling it all together again and making a run.
The Big Three, of course, had morphed into the Big Four by the time Ray Allen left, and none of those guys is Bigger, in terms of Boston's success, than Rondo. So when news broke around halftime of the Miami game that the hyperextended knee keeping him on the sideline was actually a torn ACL, ending his season and probably ensuring that he wouldn't be ready for the start of the next one, whatever hope I had of something like last year repeating itself disappeared. Doc said after the game that he's not writing the obituary yet, but everyone outside that locker room is.
It's going to be an interesting, rumor-filled couple of weeks around the Celtics. With Rondo out, Boston probably isn't a favorite to even make the playoffs. And because of that, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce become expendable. Garnett has been terrific this year, but on even more limited minutes than last year, and Pierce has declined noticeably. (Even as Pierce, who has been mired in a terrible slump, nailed the game's biggest shot in double OT, he almost cost us the game with a late turnover and an inexplicably late contest on Lebron James' game-tying three at the end of regulation.) The revamped supporting cast, saddled with Jeff Green's albatross of a contract, has disappointed, and the lone bright spot among the new faces, Jared Sullinger, has been balanced out by the mysterious dropoff of Brandon Bass. Keeping Garnett and Pierce around makes very little basketball sense.
Whether Danny Ainge can get anything for either is an open question. Garnett apparently has a no-trade clause, and it wouldn't surprise me if he refused to be moved. (Maybe I'm being naive.) And Pierce shouldn't bring that much in a trade at his salary and level of performance, although I have been surprised at the trade ideas I have read from people I respect (perhaps I'm underestimating his value). Danny has to kick the tires on those guys, though.
Oddly, all of this made Sunday's win all the more satisfying. I've been fortunate to have learned about sports and life from a number of people who taught me to appreciate the fight as much as the success. That's why I'm as proud of Game 7 of the 2010 Finals and the whole Miami series last year as I am of the championship run in 2008. Watching those guys -- who apparently didn't know of the severity of Rondo's injury until after the game -- fight to pull out the win against a better team was made that much more important by the fact that it may be the last time we see them do exactly that.
There's a part of me -- and it's not the rational part of me -- that doesn't want to see Danny do what undoubtedly should be done. There's a part of me that wants to see Pierce and KG retire as Celtics even though it'll likely set any rebuilding we try to do back a bit.
The reality is that only a few teams each season legitimately playing for a championship. For the first time in a while, we're not one of them -- and it's likely to be a while before we are again. The stakes, undoubtedly, have changed. But it's the same game. And so if Doc and Danny and Paul and Kevin decide they want to put up the same fight, I won't be too mad.
Given the above, the cynic would read the title of this post and chide me for being a more than a little bit late.
As I've said before, however, I refused to write off Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, and Doc Rivers. I acknowledged that the team's chances of making any noise in the playoffs were slim, but after last season, I wasn't going to rule anything out. Even with Pierce's noticeable decline, Garnett's ever-limited minutes, Rondo's general moodiness, and the inability of the restructured supporting cast to provide any sort of consistent contribution, I thought that those four guys were capable of pulling it all together again and making a run.
The Big Three, of course, had morphed into the Big Four by the time Ray Allen left, and none of those guys is Bigger, in terms of Boston's success, than Rondo. So when news broke around halftime of the Miami game that the hyperextended knee keeping him on the sideline was actually a torn ACL, ending his season and probably ensuring that he wouldn't be ready for the start of the next one, whatever hope I had of something like last year repeating itself disappeared. Doc said after the game that he's not writing the obituary yet, but everyone outside that locker room is.
It's going to be an interesting, rumor-filled couple of weeks around the Celtics. With Rondo out, Boston probably isn't a favorite to even make the playoffs. And because of that, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce become expendable. Garnett has been terrific this year, but on even more limited minutes than last year, and Pierce has declined noticeably. (Even as Pierce, who has been mired in a terrible slump, nailed the game's biggest shot in double OT, he almost cost us the game with a late turnover and an inexplicably late contest on Lebron James' game-tying three at the end of regulation.) The revamped supporting cast, saddled with Jeff Green's albatross of a contract, has disappointed, and the lone bright spot among the new faces, Jared Sullinger, has been balanced out by the mysterious dropoff of Brandon Bass. Keeping Garnett and Pierce around makes very little basketball sense.
Whether Danny Ainge can get anything for either is an open question. Garnett apparently has a no-trade clause, and it wouldn't surprise me if he refused to be moved. (Maybe I'm being naive.) And Pierce shouldn't bring that much in a trade at his salary and level of performance, although I have been surprised at the trade ideas I have read from people I respect (perhaps I'm underestimating his value). Danny has to kick the tires on those guys, though.
Oddly, all of this made Sunday's win all the more satisfying. I've been fortunate to have learned about sports and life from a number of people who taught me to appreciate the fight as much as the success. That's why I'm as proud of Game 7 of the 2010 Finals and the whole Miami series last year as I am of the championship run in 2008. Watching those guys -- who apparently didn't know of the severity of Rondo's injury until after the game -- fight to pull out the win against a better team was made that much more important by the fact that it may be the last time we see them do exactly that.
There's a part of me -- and it's not the rational part of me -- that doesn't want to see Danny do what undoubtedly should be done. There's a part of me that wants to see Pierce and KG retire as Celtics even though it'll likely set any rebuilding we try to do back a bit.
The reality is that only a few teams each season legitimately playing for a championship. For the first time in a while, we're not one of them -- and it's likely to be a while before we are again. The stakes, undoubtedly, have changed. But it's the same game. And so if Doc and Danny and Paul and Kevin decide they want to put up the same fight, I won't be too mad.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Boston 100, Charlotte 89
Six in a row now for the Celtics, who never trailed in this one. It was a bit closer than one would have liked, as Boston coughed up all of an 18-point lead before pulling away again in the second half. Still, considering Paul Pierce was 6 for 16 (including 2 of 8 from downtown) and Kevin Garnett was 2 for 11, this was a good win.
Rajon Rondo led the way with his third triple double of the year, a 17-point, 10-rebound, 12-assist effort that is actually relatively modest given the way he started: he amassed nine points, six boards, and five assists in the first quarter as he scored or assisted on each of Boston's first 19 point. For what I believe is the fourth straight game, at least, the Celtic bench had a major hand in this one. Jeff Green led the reserves with 11 points, most of them coming in the second quarter; Courtney Lee had nine points and Jared Sullinger eight. Jason Collins played well in a first-half stretch after both Brandon Bass and Sullinger went to the bench with foul trouble.
This marks Boston's longest winning streak in a couple of years, and there's reason to believe it can continue. The Cs host New Orleans on Wednesday and Chicago on Friday, before traveling to Detroit on Sunday and Cleveland on Tuesday. The Bulls are the toughest opponent in that stretch, but the Celtics could easily be riding a 10-game winning streak heading into a tough three-games-in-four-nights stretch towards the end of next week that sees them hosting the Knicks, traveling to Atlanta to face the Hawks, then returning to Boston for their first showdown with the Heat since opening night.
Rajon Rondo led the way with his third triple double of the year, a 17-point, 10-rebound, 12-assist effort that is actually relatively modest given the way he started: he amassed nine points, six boards, and five assists in the first quarter as he scored or assisted on each of Boston's first 19 point. For what I believe is the fourth straight game, at least, the Celtic bench had a major hand in this one. Jeff Green led the reserves with 11 points, most of them coming in the second quarter; Courtney Lee had nine points and Jared Sullinger eight. Jason Collins played well in a first-half stretch after both Brandon Bass and Sullinger went to the bench with foul trouble.
This marks Boston's longest winning streak in a couple of years, and there's reason to believe it can continue. The Cs host New Orleans on Wednesday and Chicago on Friday, before traveling to Detroit on Sunday and Cleveland on Tuesday. The Bulls are the toughest opponent in that stretch, but the Celtics could easily be riding a 10-game winning streak heading into a tough three-games-in-four-nights stretch towards the end of next week that sees them hosting the Knicks, traveling to Atlanta to face the Hawks, then returning to Boston for their first showdown with the Heat since opening night.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Boston 87, Phoenix 79
This is probably what Danny Ainge had in mind this offseason, when he assembled his deepest Celtics team as a GM. After a sluggish first period that ended with the visiting Suns up one, Boston built a 12-point lead by halftime, largely on the back of reserves. (Paul Pierce left the game for Jeff Green with 1:53 remaining in the first quarter and didn't re-enter until there was 1:16 left in the second.) Then, after the first unit surrendered a 17-2 run to start the third, the bench was again there to rescue them. Jason Terry and Jared Sullinger more or less finished the game alongside Pierce, Rajon Rondo, and Kevin Garnet, making many of the key plays down the stretch.
The star of the night in my eyes was Sullinger, who played 34 minutes and recorded 12 points and 16 rebounds. Green led a balanced attack with 14 points, most of the in the second quarter, marking the one-year anniversary of his heart surgery with three powerful dunks: a one-dribble drive around Michael Beasley followed by a monster one-handed stuff over a late-arriving Jermaine O'Neal; a two-handed rim-rocker off of a lob from Avery Bradley on the fast break; and another two-hander, in the second half, off of a backdoor cut, thanks to a nifty feed from Garnett out at the top of the key. Terry had 13 points (to go along with five rebounds and five assists) and was the first bench guy to get his offense going on the night.
That means, of course, that it was a quiet night for the starters, only one of whom -- Garnett -- finished in double figures. Other than KG, the first unit really struggled. Pierce was unusually quiet, finishing with seven points (on ten shots) in just 24 minuts, though he did have a big bucket to stem the third-quarter tide, as well as a key assist to Sullinger as Phoenix appeared to be closing in on the Cs late. Bradley started the game well, but fizzled out a bit and Doc limited him to just 18 minutes. Brandon Bass went 2-for-8 and saw much of his playing time fall to Sullinger.
Rajon Rondo finished with eight points and eight assists -- including a long one to a streaking Jason Terry late that left me marveling, again, at is court vision and feel for the game -- but it was a fairly uninspiring performance from him. He had four turnovers and never really got the starting unit going. What I loved, though, was that at the end of the third quarter (or perhaps the start of the fourth quarter), Rondo was standing up on the bench, coaching the defense -- on the broadcast, you could specifically hear him talking to Terry. That's the kind of leadership you want to see from your point guard, but Rondo hasn't always shown it, particularly on nights when he's not as involved in the game on the court. (Rondo also picked up a technical during that stretch for exchanging words with P.J. Tucker, who had some words for him after scoring on a drive early in the fourth.)
Boston's now on a four-game winning streak and sits at 18-17, with the majority of a five-game homestand still in front of it. The Rockets, coached by Kevin McHale, visit on Friday.
The star of the night in my eyes was Sullinger, who played 34 minutes and recorded 12 points and 16 rebounds. Green led a balanced attack with 14 points, most of the in the second quarter, marking the one-year anniversary of his heart surgery with three powerful dunks: a one-dribble drive around Michael Beasley followed by a monster one-handed stuff over a late-arriving Jermaine O'Neal; a two-handed rim-rocker off of a lob from Avery Bradley on the fast break; and another two-hander, in the second half, off of a backdoor cut, thanks to a nifty feed from Garnett out at the top of the key. Terry had 13 points (to go along with five rebounds and five assists) and was the first bench guy to get his offense going on the night.
That means, of course, that it was a quiet night for the starters, only one of whom -- Garnett -- finished in double figures. Other than KG, the first unit really struggled. Pierce was unusually quiet, finishing with seven points (on ten shots) in just 24 minuts, though he did have a big bucket to stem the third-quarter tide, as well as a key assist to Sullinger as Phoenix appeared to be closing in on the Cs late. Bradley started the game well, but fizzled out a bit and Doc limited him to just 18 minutes. Brandon Bass went 2-for-8 and saw much of his playing time fall to Sullinger.
Rajon Rondo finished with eight points and eight assists -- including a long one to a streaking Jason Terry late that left me marveling, again, at is court vision and feel for the game -- but it was a fairly uninspiring performance from him. He had four turnovers and never really got the starting unit going. What I loved, though, was that at the end of the third quarter (or perhaps the start of the fourth quarter), Rondo was standing up on the bench, coaching the defense -- on the broadcast, you could specifically hear him talking to Terry. That's the kind of leadership you want to see from your point guard, but Rondo hasn't always shown it, particularly on nights when he's not as involved in the game on the court. (Rondo also picked up a technical during that stretch for exchanging words with P.J. Tucker, who had some words for him after scoring on a drive early in the fourth.)
Boston's now on a four-game winning streak and sits at 18-17, with the majority of a five-game homestand still in front of it. The Rockets, coached by Kevin McHale, visit on Friday.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Boston 102, New York 96
So, I made a New Year's resolution this year not to let a Celtics game go by without posting. I just checked and my last post was November 18. I've had some computer problems (still ongoing) and the new job is keeping me busy, but still, no excuse.
There's a reason, though, that I'm still a few pounds overweight and my apartment looks like I'e just moved in: I suck at resolutions. So it's no surprise that it wasn't until the fourth game of the New Year that I actually got around to posting. (To be fair, the Memphis game was on NBATV, which I apparently don't get, and I was visiting my girlfriend -- who I hadn't seen in nearly a month -- for the Indiana and Atlanta wins.)
Indeed, the last time I had seen the Celtics before Monday night was up here in the Bay Area, when the boys in green put forth two of the sorriest efforts you'll ever see; back-to-back blowouts to the Warriors and Kings. I was at both of those games in person -- likely the only time I'll get to see them live this season -- and it was just pathetic. To be honest, they looked done, and the only thing that kept me from declaring the same -- or nodding in agreement as everyone else did -- is that we were basically in this same spot last year, and we nearly made the Finals. I know better than to count this team out.
There's a lot of fight in these guys. After the terrible three-game California swing (the Celtics got blown out by the Clippers in LA before making the trip to NorCal), they let the Grizzlies run away from them in the second half at the Garden. The next game was a surprisingly convincing home win over the Pacers, followed by a win over the Hawks, highlighted by a 33-9 third quarter that erased a big halftime deficit and may well mark the turning point of this season.
Tonight against the Knicks at Madison Square was one of the more intense NBA games I've seen in a long while. There's a historical rivalry there, sure, but there's also been a lot of recent chippiness between these teams. The Knicks have had a great first few months of the season, and they may have been extra anxious to flex their muscle against the team that's bullied them in recent seasons.
Whatever the reason, this game was physical in the first half and quickly escalated in the second half. Carmelo Anthony in particular was in an ornery mood, fruitlessly trying to draw fouls in the first half and growing increasingly frustrated with each uncalled perceived infraction. He quickly grew out of control in the second, barking incessantly at the officials and Kevin Garnett, who for once wasn't the instigator. Melo and KG picked up techs for yapping at each other, and Anthony easily could have been ejected two or three times in the closing minutes. He finished something like 6-for-22 and probably cost his team the game with his loss of composure -- everything was painfully forced for him on the offensive end.
For Boston, Paul Pierce once again made all the big shots, including an incredibly difficult step back, fadeaway 20-footer over Tyson Chandler that sealed the game. Avery Bradley, playing in just his fourth game after offseason shoulder surgery, put together his first solid offensive performance. Jeff Green scored a bunch, which is, I'm afraid, about the most we can hope for at this point. Jared Sullinger had another savvy performance, playign with a craftiness and a physicality that belies his lack of pro-level experience. Garnett was his usual solid self.
Oh yeah: They won this one without Rajon Rondo, who was dinged a game for apparently making contact with a ref against the Hawks. The contact was so slight that it didn't warrant a technical during the game -- it looked to me like Rondo, having just been called for pushing off on Josh Smith, went over to talk to the official and the two inadvertently brushed shoulders. Rondo's reputation is starting to come back to bite him.
This post is sort of all over the place, and I'm sure I haven't captured the atmosphere of this game particularly well. But I was reminded tonight of March 13, 2012, when I saw the Cs take on, and beat, the Clippers in LA. As I wrote back then, it was, by far, the most intense and volatile atmosphere I'd ever experienced at a regular-season NBA game. The Celts had lost to the Lakers the night before; the Clips had just lost to the Warriors and were eager to establish themselves against the old guard. But Boston rose beautifully to the occasion, showing the young bucks that the old guys still had it.
I won't be so dramatic as to say that that game was the turning point of the season. But Boston was a mediocre 21-19 heading into that game -- they went 18-8 to close the season. Those Celtics went on to play one of the gutsiest playoff series I've ever seen, battling injuries and all sorts of other adverse conditions in nearly beating Miami in the Eastern Conference finals.
Thanks to the current three-game winning streak, these Celtics now sit at 17-17, squarely at .500. Tonight's win might be more or less meaningless in terms of the team's overall record, but it marked the first time that this team -- this new team, with improved depth and talent -- showed itself capable of winning a game like that one I saw in LA last year. Only time will tell if it was a fluke, a little MSG Magic, or the true character of this squad.
There's a reason, though, that I'm still a few pounds overweight and my apartment looks like I'e just moved in: I suck at resolutions. So it's no surprise that it wasn't until the fourth game of the New Year that I actually got around to posting. (To be fair, the Memphis game was on NBATV, which I apparently don't get, and I was visiting my girlfriend -- who I hadn't seen in nearly a month -- for the Indiana and Atlanta wins.)
Indeed, the last time I had seen the Celtics before Monday night was up here in the Bay Area, when the boys in green put forth two of the sorriest efforts you'll ever see; back-to-back blowouts to the Warriors and Kings. I was at both of those games in person -- likely the only time I'll get to see them live this season -- and it was just pathetic. To be honest, they looked done, and the only thing that kept me from declaring the same -- or nodding in agreement as everyone else did -- is that we were basically in this same spot last year, and we nearly made the Finals. I know better than to count this team out.
There's a lot of fight in these guys. After the terrible three-game California swing (the Celtics got blown out by the Clippers in LA before making the trip to NorCal), they let the Grizzlies run away from them in the second half at the Garden. The next game was a surprisingly convincing home win over the Pacers, followed by a win over the Hawks, highlighted by a 33-9 third quarter that erased a big halftime deficit and may well mark the turning point of this season.
Tonight against the Knicks at Madison Square was one of the more intense NBA games I've seen in a long while. There's a historical rivalry there, sure, but there's also been a lot of recent chippiness between these teams. The Knicks have had a great first few months of the season, and they may have been extra anxious to flex their muscle against the team that's bullied them in recent seasons.
Whatever the reason, this game was physical in the first half and quickly escalated in the second half. Carmelo Anthony in particular was in an ornery mood, fruitlessly trying to draw fouls in the first half and growing increasingly frustrated with each uncalled perceived infraction. He quickly grew out of control in the second, barking incessantly at the officials and Kevin Garnett, who for once wasn't the instigator. Melo and KG picked up techs for yapping at each other, and Anthony easily could have been ejected two or three times in the closing minutes. He finished something like 6-for-22 and probably cost his team the game with his loss of composure -- everything was painfully forced for him on the offensive end.
For Boston, Paul Pierce once again made all the big shots, including an incredibly difficult step back, fadeaway 20-footer over Tyson Chandler that sealed the game. Avery Bradley, playing in just his fourth game after offseason shoulder surgery, put together his first solid offensive performance. Jeff Green scored a bunch, which is, I'm afraid, about the most we can hope for at this point. Jared Sullinger had another savvy performance, playign with a craftiness and a physicality that belies his lack of pro-level experience. Garnett was his usual solid self.
Oh yeah: They won this one without Rajon Rondo, who was dinged a game for apparently making contact with a ref against the Hawks. The contact was so slight that it didn't warrant a technical during the game -- it looked to me like Rondo, having just been called for pushing off on Josh Smith, went over to talk to the official and the two inadvertently brushed shoulders. Rondo's reputation is starting to come back to bite him.
This post is sort of all over the place, and I'm sure I haven't captured the atmosphere of this game particularly well. But I was reminded tonight of March 13, 2012, when I saw the Cs take on, and beat, the Clippers in LA. As I wrote back then, it was, by far, the most intense and volatile atmosphere I'd ever experienced at a regular-season NBA game. The Celts had lost to the Lakers the night before; the Clips had just lost to the Warriors and were eager to establish themselves against the old guard. But Boston rose beautifully to the occasion, showing the young bucks that the old guys still had it.
I won't be so dramatic as to say that that game was the turning point of the season. But Boston was a mediocre 21-19 heading into that game -- they went 18-8 to close the season. Those Celtics went on to play one of the gutsiest playoff series I've ever seen, battling injuries and all sorts of other adverse conditions in nearly beating Miami in the Eastern Conference finals.
Thanks to the current three-game winning streak, these Celtics now sit at 17-17, squarely at .500. Tonight's win might be more or less meaningless in terms of the team's overall record, but it marked the first time that this team -- this new team, with improved depth and talent -- showed itself capable of winning a game like that one I saw in LA last year. Only time will tell if it was a fluke, a little MSG Magic, or the true character of this squad.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Celtics Split Four in Five Days
It might have to be this way moving forward -- I'm just not sure I'm going to have time to write after every game. Boston just wrapped up a stretch of four games in five nights that went thusly: a close win over Utah; a narrow loss in Brooklyn without Rajon Rondo, who sprained his ankle early in the second half of the Jazz game; a rout of Toronto; and then a blowout loss at the Palace at the hands of the woeful Pistons. I'm going to try to not let the fact that I just watched the embarrassment that was the Detroit game color what I'm going to say too much.
Rather than go game by game, I'm just going to throw out some random thoughts here. Like bullet points, only I can't figure out how to do bullet points on the "new" Blogger platform that came about a couple of years ago. Instead, I'll just use bold italics to signal my topic headings. If this technique is effective, then this explanation was completely unnecessary.
Last year, Doc Rivers put Kevin Garnett on the "5/5/5" plan, limiting KG's minutes to the first five of each of the first three quarters. The idea was to keep him fresh for the fourth quarter. Doc didn't really stick to it (Garnett averaged 31 minutes per game), probably in part because of how good Garnett was last year and in part because we didn't have much depth.
This year, it's been shortened to the 4/4/4 plan, and Doc seems to be committed to it, at least for now. With the frontcourt depth we have, he might able to get away with it, if he can keep Kevin on the bench that long. It's a little alarming to me, though, because we're talking about a goal of 25 minutes or so for a guy who, while he is in his 18th NBA season, averaged about 16 points and eight boards last year while anchoring one of the league's best defenses. Especially since Doc hasn't been shy about riding his horses (to his detriment, in my opinion) in previous seasons, it makes me worry that there's some nagging injury that we don't know about.
Jaston Terry hit six of 11 three-point attempts in the Brooklyn and Toronto games, sandwiching those performances between a terrible effort on Sunday and the Jazz game where he only took one shot. He's found his rhythm a bit, which is great. But I wish he was doing this in his customary sixth man role and not as a starter. A game like Sunday, with the first unit struggling, is the kind of game that you really need a scoring punch off the bench, a burst of energy, and Terry wasn't there to provide it. I suppose that Leandro Barbosa can be that guy, but when Barbosa comes in the game, the ball hardly goes to anyone else. Not that Terry is a great table-setter or anything like that, but Barbosa just dominates the rock. That kind of thing is bad for guys like Jeff Green, another guy we're counting on for bench scoring, and a guy whose attention seems to wander if he's not getting the pill.
Speaking of Jeff Green, I think if he were, say, Gerald Green, you'd hear a lot more people complaining about his lack of effort and basketball IQ. But we know that he's thoughtful and a great guy, and because of that, and perhaps because of the heart problem he had last year, he gets a bit of a break from a lot of Celtics fans. But right now, he's demonstrating a disturbing lack of effort and engagement that is a bigger problem than his limited offensive game and suspect defense and rebounding.
Brandon Bass is 10 for 30 over the past three games. He's gotten the same looks at jumpers that we are used to him making with regularity. At this point, some of it is psychological; he's hesitating on a lot of looks he'd normally pop right away. I assume that he'll get his mind right between now and Wednesday, when the Celts take the floor next.
Jared Sullinger keeps reinforcing my belief that we got a steal when we drafted him at 21 in this summer's draft. He had his first career double-double against the Raptors, then set a career-high in scoring with 16 against the Pistons. Most importantly, it wasn't until he took on Detroit's Jason Maxiell that he went up against someone who could push him around underneath -- and by the end of the night, he was moving Maxiell and Andre Drummond around. His strength is a huge asset for a guy his height who plays inside. Offensively, he's shown that he at least has Bass' range, and likely can step out a bit farther. He hit a couple 20-footers late against Detroit to keep Rondo's assist streak going.
Ah, the streak. With ten dimes on Sunday, Rondo now has 34 consecutive games with 10 or more assists. (He had 20 against the Raps, by the way.) That's the third-longest such streak of all time, just a few back of John Stockton's longest streak and a dozen short of Magic Johnson's all-time mark. He had to work to get it today, though, playing to the final seconds despite the game being well out of hand. Doc even called a random timeout under two minutes to set something up.
The streak is fun, and really it shouldn't have been an issue tonight (his teammates missed a bunch of open looks), but I don't love that he and Doc seem to be actively pursuing it. I mean, there's really no harm in going after it once the game is already in hand, but if it's something they're aware of deep in a blowout, how likely is it that it's not on Rondo's mind when the game is still in reach. On Sunday, we certainly could have used more scoring, something we know Rondo is capable of. Did he hold back to try and set up his teammates? It's not a huge problem -- generally, it's a good idea for a point guard to be most concerned with getting his struggling teammates going. But Rondo is already pass-happy to a fault; having the streak in the back of his mind, if he does, could turn his unselfishness into selfishness, actually, and a positive into a negative.
Rather than go game by game, I'm just going to throw out some random thoughts here. Like bullet points, only I can't figure out how to do bullet points on the "new" Blogger platform that came about a couple of years ago. Instead, I'll just use bold italics to signal my topic headings. If this technique is effective, then this explanation was completely unnecessary.
Last year, Doc Rivers put Kevin Garnett on the "5/5/5" plan, limiting KG's minutes to the first five of each of the first three quarters. The idea was to keep him fresh for the fourth quarter. Doc didn't really stick to it (Garnett averaged 31 minutes per game), probably in part because of how good Garnett was last year and in part because we didn't have much depth.
This year, it's been shortened to the 4/4/4 plan, and Doc seems to be committed to it, at least for now. With the frontcourt depth we have, he might able to get away with it, if he can keep Kevin on the bench that long. It's a little alarming to me, though, because we're talking about a goal of 25 minutes or so for a guy who, while he is in his 18th NBA season, averaged about 16 points and eight boards last year while anchoring one of the league's best defenses. Especially since Doc hasn't been shy about riding his horses (to his detriment, in my opinion) in previous seasons, it makes me worry that there's some nagging injury that we don't know about.
Jaston Terry hit six of 11 three-point attempts in the Brooklyn and Toronto games, sandwiching those performances between a terrible effort on Sunday and the Jazz game where he only took one shot. He's found his rhythm a bit, which is great. But I wish he was doing this in his customary sixth man role and not as a starter. A game like Sunday, with the first unit struggling, is the kind of game that you really need a scoring punch off the bench, a burst of energy, and Terry wasn't there to provide it. I suppose that Leandro Barbosa can be that guy, but when Barbosa comes in the game, the ball hardly goes to anyone else. Not that Terry is a great table-setter or anything like that, but Barbosa just dominates the rock. That kind of thing is bad for guys like Jeff Green, another guy we're counting on for bench scoring, and a guy whose attention seems to wander if he's not getting the pill.
Speaking of Jeff Green, I think if he were, say, Gerald Green, you'd hear a lot more people complaining about his lack of effort and basketball IQ. But we know that he's thoughtful and a great guy, and because of that, and perhaps because of the heart problem he had last year, he gets a bit of a break from a lot of Celtics fans. But right now, he's demonstrating a disturbing lack of effort and engagement that is a bigger problem than his limited offensive game and suspect defense and rebounding.
Brandon Bass is 10 for 30 over the past three games. He's gotten the same looks at jumpers that we are used to him making with regularity. At this point, some of it is psychological; he's hesitating on a lot of looks he'd normally pop right away. I assume that he'll get his mind right between now and Wednesday, when the Celts take the floor next.
Jared Sullinger keeps reinforcing my belief that we got a steal when we drafted him at 21 in this summer's draft. He had his first career double-double against the Raptors, then set a career-high in scoring with 16 against the Pistons. Most importantly, it wasn't until he took on Detroit's Jason Maxiell that he went up against someone who could push him around underneath -- and by the end of the night, he was moving Maxiell and Andre Drummond around. His strength is a huge asset for a guy his height who plays inside. Offensively, he's shown that he at least has Bass' range, and likely can step out a bit farther. He hit a couple 20-footers late against Detroit to keep Rondo's assist streak going.
Ah, the streak. With ten dimes on Sunday, Rondo now has 34 consecutive games with 10 or more assists. (He had 20 against the Raps, by the way.) That's the third-longest such streak of all time, just a few back of John Stockton's longest streak and a dozen short of Magic Johnson's all-time mark. He had to work to get it today, though, playing to the final seconds despite the game being well out of hand. Doc even called a random timeout under two minutes to set something up.
The streak is fun, and really it shouldn't have been an issue tonight (his teammates missed a bunch of open looks), but I don't love that he and Doc seem to be actively pursuing it. I mean, there's really no harm in going after it once the game is already in hand, but if it's something they're aware of deep in a blowout, how likely is it that it's not on Rondo's mind when the game is still in reach. On Sunday, we certainly could have used more scoring, something we know Rondo is capable of. Did he hold back to try and set up his teammates? It's not a huge problem -- generally, it's a good idea for a point guard to be most concerned with getting his struggling teammates going. But Rondo is already pass-happy to a fault; having the streak in the back of his mind, if he does, could turn his unselfishness into selfishness, actually, and a positive into a negative.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Boston 101, Chicago 95
[recap] [box score]
Been a long time since I last updated -- after starting 0-2, Boston beat Washington twice, lost to Philly, and then beat Milwaukee in a rematch on Saturday night to even their record at 3-3. Tonight against the Bulls was probably the teams best performance of the young season, at least until the fourth quarter.
On a macro level, Doc Rivers seems to have settled on a starting lineup. After experimenting for a few games with Jared Sullinger as our starting four, Brandon Bass has been opening the game up front alongside Kevin Garnett the last two times out. As much as I was lobbying to play the kid with the first team, I agree with this move. Sullinger wasn't getting going with the first unit, and Bass was struggling to find his offense, as well. The other big change has been Jason Terry starting at two over Courtney Lee, which seems to have gotten Terry off the schneid after a slow start to the season. This one may not be permanent -- Terry has a long track record of success in the sixth man role, and while the Celtics might be able to get away with Terry and Rondo in the backcourt against Brandon Jennings/Monta Ellis and Nate Robinson/Rip Hamilton, some bigger guard pairings could make Lee's size and defense important to have in the starting lineup.
One thing everyone has been talking about since the preseason is how Boston wants to run more this year, and indeed, our pace is way above what we're used to. What's interesting about it is that the Celtics are not, at least to my eye, getting a ton of fast break points. What they are doing, however, is getting a lot of early offense. It's a smart move and a welcome change from the bogged down offensive sets we've seen in recent years. I've noticed that it's particularly beneficial to Bass, whose bread-and-butter shot is the mid-range jumper. Instead of beating the ball downcourt, Bass has been trailing the plays a bit as Rondo rushes upcourt. Bass' defender, meanwhile, has to worry about Rondo (a threat to get to the basket at any time) and isn't used to picking up power forwards above the free throw line, so he sets up down low and waits for Bass. All Bass has to do, then, is stop at whatever spot he's most comfortable and await the feed from Rondo for the wide-open jumper. Once teams start to pick Bass up earlier, you can expect to see more layups for Rondo, whose Inspector Gadget arms and crafty finishing have befuddled many a back-pedaling would-be shotblocker.
The Cs were pretty much in control of this one until the fourth quarter, when they went ice-cold from the floor (Kevin Garnett in particular). It also coincided with increased playing time for rookie point guard Marquis Teague and power forward Taj Gibson, who shored up a defense that was surprisingly vulnerable to penetration over the first three quarters given that they are coached by Tom Thibodeau. Ultimately, the Celtics sealed the game with a couple nifty screen-and-roll plays with Rondo and Garnett that led to KG alley-oop dunks (the play involves staggered ball screens on the side, with the first screener, a shooter, flaring to the three-point line and KG, the second screener, rolling to the bucket).
This is a busy week for Boston, which is about to embark on one of those grueling four-games-in-five-nights stretches. We host Utah on Wednesday before playing Brooklyn on Thursday (that one's a national TV game), then play Toronto and at Detroit on the weekend. Those latter two opponents are currently a combined 1-14, but the Jazz and Nets are the team's toughest games since the opener against the Heat. These upcoming games should be a good bellwether for how the team is coming together.
Been a long time since I last updated -- after starting 0-2, Boston beat Washington twice, lost to Philly, and then beat Milwaukee in a rematch on Saturday night to even their record at 3-3. Tonight against the Bulls was probably the teams best performance of the young season, at least until the fourth quarter.
On a macro level, Doc Rivers seems to have settled on a starting lineup. After experimenting for a few games with Jared Sullinger as our starting four, Brandon Bass has been opening the game up front alongside Kevin Garnett the last two times out. As much as I was lobbying to play the kid with the first team, I agree with this move. Sullinger wasn't getting going with the first unit, and Bass was struggling to find his offense, as well. The other big change has been Jason Terry starting at two over Courtney Lee, which seems to have gotten Terry off the schneid after a slow start to the season. This one may not be permanent -- Terry has a long track record of success in the sixth man role, and while the Celtics might be able to get away with Terry and Rondo in the backcourt against Brandon Jennings/Monta Ellis and Nate Robinson/Rip Hamilton, some bigger guard pairings could make Lee's size and defense important to have in the starting lineup.
One thing everyone has been talking about since the preseason is how Boston wants to run more this year, and indeed, our pace is way above what we're used to. What's interesting about it is that the Celtics are not, at least to my eye, getting a ton of fast break points. What they are doing, however, is getting a lot of early offense. It's a smart move and a welcome change from the bogged down offensive sets we've seen in recent years. I've noticed that it's particularly beneficial to Bass, whose bread-and-butter shot is the mid-range jumper. Instead of beating the ball downcourt, Bass has been trailing the plays a bit as Rondo rushes upcourt. Bass' defender, meanwhile, has to worry about Rondo (a threat to get to the basket at any time) and isn't used to picking up power forwards above the free throw line, so he sets up down low and waits for Bass. All Bass has to do, then, is stop at whatever spot he's most comfortable and await the feed from Rondo for the wide-open jumper. Once teams start to pick Bass up earlier, you can expect to see more layups for Rondo, whose Inspector Gadget arms and crafty finishing have befuddled many a back-pedaling would-be shotblocker.
The Cs were pretty much in control of this one until the fourth quarter, when they went ice-cold from the floor (Kevin Garnett in particular). It also coincided with increased playing time for rookie point guard Marquis Teague and power forward Taj Gibson, who shored up a defense that was surprisingly vulnerable to penetration over the first three quarters given that they are coached by Tom Thibodeau. Ultimately, the Celtics sealed the game with a couple nifty screen-and-roll plays with Rondo and Garnett that led to KG alley-oop dunks (the play involves staggered ball screens on the side, with the first screener, a shooter, flaring to the three-point line and KG, the second screener, rolling to the bucket).
This is a busy week for Boston, which is about to embark on one of those grueling four-games-in-five-nights stretches. We host Utah on Wednesday before playing Brooklyn on Thursday (that one's a national TV game), then play Toronto and at Detroit on the weekend. Those latter two opponents are currently a combined 1-14, but the Jazz and Nets are the team's toughest games since the opener against the Heat. These upcoming games should be a good bellwether for how the team is coming together.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Milwaukee 99, Boston 88
[recap] [box score]
Before anyone starts to panic about the Celtics being 0-2, let's take a deep breath. The Lakers, the presumptive Western Conference champions the moment the Oklahoma City Thunder shipped James Harden to the Rockets on the eve of the season, are 0-3 in the Dwight Howard/Steve Nash era. The Heat, the defending champs and odds-on favorites to repeat, got blown out Friday night by the Knicks in New York.
It's a long season. There's no reason to panic.
With that said, this was as bad a performance as we've seen from the Celtics in recent years, and a big step back from the season-opening loss on Tuesday. Against Miami, Boston at least played well offensively. Against Milwaukee, the Celtics limped to just 30 points at halftime, falling behind by double digits in the second quarter and never really challenging thereafter. A flurry of garbage-time points is the only thing that made the score respectable.
Defensively, though, Boston was at least as bad Friday as they were on Tuesday, and probably worse -- the Bucks are nothing close to the offensive outfit that the Heat are. The pick and roll defense was bad, and there were a ton of blown rotations. It's disconcerting to see a Boston team struggle this much on that end of the floor, but you have to think things are going to improve. The Celtics were good defensively last year, and while none of the key guys we added are known as outstanding defenders, none of the guys we lost are, either. Doc mentioned in the pregame interview with Mike Gorman that some of the guys are used to different defensive rotations/responsibilities due to having played in different systems last year, and it's actually something that Hubie Brown mentioned in the Lakers-Clippers telecast tonight with regards to former Celtic (and current Clipper) Ryan Hollins. So hopefully a lot of this stuff will clear itself up.
There isn't a whole lot to talk about for this game: Paul Pierce got into early foul trouble and never found a rhythm; Boston played with zero energy for most of the night (seemingly standard for Friday night games with this team); Kevin Garnett had an encouraging stretch in the third quarter where he was the assertive offense force we saw in the playoffs last year. Overall, on the offensive end, I think a lot of the new guys are trying to fit in too much. Courtney Lee, in particular, needs to be more aggressive offensively.
One thing I'm going to be watching closely is how the frontcourt rotation works itself out. Jeff Green was the first guy off the bench, replacing Garnett, but he struggled again and I thought Jared Sullinger was one of the few bright spots. The rookie struggled with pick and roll defense, which was the knock on him heading into the year, but he plenty of company wearing white uniforms in that regard. But he wasn't completely exposed the times he switched out on to a guard on the perimeter, and he drew two charges on Ersan Ilyasova in the first half -- a sure sign that he's buying into our defensive philosophy and that he's in the right place at least some of the time. He had a very productive first half, but played significantly less in the second.
I get that the team has a lot invested in Green, that Danny and presumably Doc believe in him, and that he's in dire need of some confidence. And I know that Doc is hesitant to give rookies major minutes. But if we're really not going to play any of our centers meaningful minutes -- Darko Milicic got a handful in the first half tonight, and Chris Wilcox came in during garbage time (he may get more time as the season progresses and he plays his way back into shape) -- then I don't think we can afford to play Green alongside Bass too often, particularly against a decent-sized frontline like Milwaukee's. Green is a notoriously poor rebounder for his size, whereas Sullinger has some real potential in that area -- he's already quite advanced at using his considerable width to gain position on the glass. And I would hate to see Sullinger's development delayed unnecessarily. I hope I'm wrong about Green, and obviously the team's not going to give up on him, but I'm thinking that everyone's interests would best be served with the young buck replacing KG first, bringing in Green afterwards to spell either Bass or Pierce.
Back at it Saturday night, 7 Eastern, at Washington.
Before anyone starts to panic about the Celtics being 0-2, let's take a deep breath. The Lakers, the presumptive Western Conference champions the moment the Oklahoma City Thunder shipped James Harden to the Rockets on the eve of the season, are 0-3 in the Dwight Howard/Steve Nash era. The Heat, the defending champs and odds-on favorites to repeat, got blown out Friday night by the Knicks in New York.
It's a long season. There's no reason to panic.
With that said, this was as bad a performance as we've seen from the Celtics in recent years, and a big step back from the season-opening loss on Tuesday. Against Miami, Boston at least played well offensively. Against Milwaukee, the Celtics limped to just 30 points at halftime, falling behind by double digits in the second quarter and never really challenging thereafter. A flurry of garbage-time points is the only thing that made the score respectable.
Defensively, though, Boston was at least as bad Friday as they were on Tuesday, and probably worse -- the Bucks are nothing close to the offensive outfit that the Heat are. The pick and roll defense was bad, and there were a ton of blown rotations. It's disconcerting to see a Boston team struggle this much on that end of the floor, but you have to think things are going to improve. The Celtics were good defensively last year, and while none of the key guys we added are known as outstanding defenders, none of the guys we lost are, either. Doc mentioned in the pregame interview with Mike Gorman that some of the guys are used to different defensive rotations/responsibilities due to having played in different systems last year, and it's actually something that Hubie Brown mentioned in the Lakers-Clippers telecast tonight with regards to former Celtic (and current Clipper) Ryan Hollins. So hopefully a lot of this stuff will clear itself up.
There isn't a whole lot to talk about for this game: Paul Pierce got into early foul trouble and never found a rhythm; Boston played with zero energy for most of the night (seemingly standard for Friday night games with this team); Kevin Garnett had an encouraging stretch in the third quarter where he was the assertive offense force we saw in the playoffs last year. Overall, on the offensive end, I think a lot of the new guys are trying to fit in too much. Courtney Lee, in particular, needs to be more aggressive offensively.
One thing I'm going to be watching closely is how the frontcourt rotation works itself out. Jeff Green was the first guy off the bench, replacing Garnett, but he struggled again and I thought Jared Sullinger was one of the few bright spots. The rookie struggled with pick and roll defense, which was the knock on him heading into the year, but he plenty of company wearing white uniforms in that regard. But he wasn't completely exposed the times he switched out on to a guard on the perimeter, and he drew two charges on Ersan Ilyasova in the first half -- a sure sign that he's buying into our defensive philosophy and that he's in the right place at least some of the time. He had a very productive first half, but played significantly less in the second.
I get that the team has a lot invested in Green, that Danny and presumably Doc believe in him, and that he's in dire need of some confidence. And I know that Doc is hesitant to give rookies major minutes. But if we're really not going to play any of our centers meaningful minutes -- Darko Milicic got a handful in the first half tonight, and Chris Wilcox came in during garbage time (he may get more time as the season progresses and he plays his way back into shape) -- then I don't think we can afford to play Green alongside Bass too often, particularly against a decent-sized frontline like Milwaukee's. Green is a notoriously poor rebounder for his size, whereas Sullinger has some real potential in that area -- he's already quite advanced at using his considerable width to gain position on the glass. And I would hate to see Sullinger's development delayed unnecessarily. I hope I'm wrong about Green, and obviously the team's not going to give up on him, but I'm thinking that everyone's interests would best be served with the young buck replacing KG first, bringing in Green afterwards to spell either Bass or Pierce.
Back at it Saturday night, 7 Eastern, at Washington.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Miami 120, Boston 107
[recap] [box score]
Pretty entertaining season-opener. For posterity's sake, let the record show that Miami broke this game open in the third quarter, leading by as many as 18. But LeBron James had to sit the final nine minutes due to muscle cramps, and Boston was able to cut the lead to four before going scoreless over the final 2:09.
Given the unique composition and playing style of these two teams -- no true center played a single second of this game, for either side -- it's pointless to draw any real conclusions about lineups and how Doc Rivers is planning on using all of his newfound depth. At one point in the fourth quarter, Jeff Green and Paul Pierce were in the frontcourt with Rajon Rondo, Jason Terry, and Leandro Barbosa in the backcourt. I don't expect we'll see much of the three-point guard, two-small forward lineup this year.
The defense was awful, too, as bad as it has been in the last five seasons. For now, I'm going to chalk that up to all the fresh faces, and offseason rust. I'd be surprised if defense was a major problem with this team all season. (With that said, I do wish we'd stop giving up so many easy transition buckets to the Heat, something we could do simply by paying a little more attention as we run back on defense.)
I don't want to get too far ahead of things and read too much about the team into one game. But I do think it's appropriate to give some quick thoughts on how particular players looked in this one.
Courtney Lee, replacing the departed Ray Allen and the injured Avery Bradley in the starting lineup, looked very good guarding Dwyane Wade in the early going. He got into foul trouble, though, for the same reason that Bradley often found himself in trouble with the referees last year: Neither has a good feel for when, on a given play, to dial down the physicality. Bradley is young enough to develop that instinct and to earn some more respect from the officials as his career goes on; Lee's already got several years in the league under his belt, so it's a concern worth keeping an eye on. Offensively, Lee was pretty passive, but did find a couple of open jumpers by running the floor.
Rondo put up another gaudy stat line, picking up where he left off last season. His aggressiveness on offense in looking for his own shot was good to see; he rarely took an ill-advised, and we're so much more effective offensively when the defense has to respect his scoring ability. He was a little sloppier with the ball than I'm comfortable with, but at this point, I think that's just something we'll have to live with.
Leandro Barbosa exploded for all 16 of his points in the fourth quarter, looking like the Brazilian Blur of old. Barbosa clearly can still fill it up off the bench, the kind of player we've been lacking the last several years. Barbosa was basically an afterthought this offseason, signed solely for depth. He showed in his first game in green, however, that he's more than that. He's one of several players we supposedly have who will bring much-needed scoring punch to the second unit.
I say "supposedly" because the other two -- Jason Terry and Jeff Green -- were uniformly awful. Terry's shot was off all night, and when he's not hitting, he's not effective. I'm not worried about him. Green, on the other hand, still worries me. The ball just stops when it gets to him. It's not that he's selfish -- at least, I don't think he is. He honestly looks like he just doesn't know what to do with the ball once he gets it. He's too indecisive, which allows the defense to recover. Even his on-court demeanor is disconcerting -- facially, he looks meek and overwhelmed out there. Given that this is the same stuff I was worried about when I saw him during his first half-season after he came over from Oklahoma City for Kendrick Perkins (he missed all of last year), I'm worried. I'm not hitting the panic button yet, but I'm worried.
Not to alarm anyone, but I didn't think that KG looked right. Nothing noticeable like a limp; it simply looked like that he maybe didn't have his legs under him yet. Hopefully, that's all it is. But he was mostly a non-factor on offense, and he let Chris Bosh beat him for a huge bucket down the stretch after the Celtics had cut the lead to four. Boston would do well to remember how effective Garnett was offensively last year against Miami in the Eastern Conference finals. Even when we're playing small-ball, we shouldn't forget the favorable matchups we might have underneath.
Brandon Bass turned in a typical Brandon Bass game. And that's a good thing.
Pierce had a strong first half but faltered a bit in the second. He looked like a different player than the one who limped to the finish line last year. It sounds like he doesn't have any lingering injuries.
Due to the unique circumstances of the game, rookie Jared Sullinger didn't get a lot of action in his regular season NBA debut. I didn't see much to report on, other than I think he found himself in a switch situation matched up against James, and he actually forced James into a jumper. Given that defense is the biggest concern around Sullinger (well, that and his health), I'd consider this a good sign, too.
Two other quick notes. First, Wade said that Rondo's flagrant foul on him in the waning seconds was a "punk move." That's up for the individual to decide; Rondo did get him around the head and neck area from behind. Either way, though, I find it ironic that Wade would speak out, given that he basically did the same thing to Kobe Bryant last year -- in the All-Star game (breaking Kobe's nose in the process). And isn't it some fundamental principle of basketball that if you take the ball to the basket in the waning seconds of a game you already have in hand, against perhaps your chief rival, you're gonna get hit?
Secondly, damn you, Ray Allen, for making it so hard to quit you. After saying all the wrong things in the weeks leading up to the game, he said all the right things in the post-game interview with Craig Sager. I was all set to write him off, and then he has to go and talk about how much he loves his former teammates and how he's a New Englander for life. I know I' being played for a sucker here, that he's just telling me what I want to hear. But I guess I'm not ready to hate Ray yet. (Although if he consistently plays as well against us as he did on Tuesday, that day will come soon. Also, how jarring is this? Say it ain't so, Flo!)
Don't despair. It's one game out of 82, and we have a lot of new pieces to integrate. Plus, at least we're not the Lakers, who marked the debut of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash with a listless loss to the Dirk Nowitzki-less Dallas Mavericks.
Milwaukee's up next, on Friday, and their deep front line should be an interesting contrast to Miami's small lineup. That should afford us our first extended look at Sullinger, as well as give an idea of how Doc plans to use Darko Milicic and Jason Collins. (I don't think Chris Wilcox will be ready.) Heck, we might even see Darko in the starting lineup. Anyway, NBA League Pass is running its annual free preview week to start the season, so check this one out. And if you're in the Washington Metro area, we're at the Wizards on Saturday.
Pretty entertaining season-opener. For posterity's sake, let the record show that Miami broke this game open in the third quarter, leading by as many as 18. But LeBron James had to sit the final nine minutes due to muscle cramps, and Boston was able to cut the lead to four before going scoreless over the final 2:09.
Given the unique composition and playing style of these two teams -- no true center played a single second of this game, for either side -- it's pointless to draw any real conclusions about lineups and how Doc Rivers is planning on using all of his newfound depth. At one point in the fourth quarter, Jeff Green and Paul Pierce were in the frontcourt with Rajon Rondo, Jason Terry, and Leandro Barbosa in the backcourt. I don't expect we'll see much of the three-point guard, two-small forward lineup this year.
The defense was awful, too, as bad as it has been in the last five seasons. For now, I'm going to chalk that up to all the fresh faces, and offseason rust. I'd be surprised if defense was a major problem with this team all season. (With that said, I do wish we'd stop giving up so many easy transition buckets to the Heat, something we could do simply by paying a little more attention as we run back on defense.)
I don't want to get too far ahead of things and read too much about the team into one game. But I do think it's appropriate to give some quick thoughts on how particular players looked in this one.
Courtney Lee, replacing the departed Ray Allen and the injured Avery Bradley in the starting lineup, looked very good guarding Dwyane Wade in the early going. He got into foul trouble, though, for the same reason that Bradley often found himself in trouble with the referees last year: Neither has a good feel for when, on a given play, to dial down the physicality. Bradley is young enough to develop that instinct and to earn some more respect from the officials as his career goes on; Lee's already got several years in the league under his belt, so it's a concern worth keeping an eye on. Offensively, Lee was pretty passive, but did find a couple of open jumpers by running the floor.
Rondo put up another gaudy stat line, picking up where he left off last season. His aggressiveness on offense in looking for his own shot was good to see; he rarely took an ill-advised, and we're so much more effective offensively when the defense has to respect his scoring ability. He was a little sloppier with the ball than I'm comfortable with, but at this point, I think that's just something we'll have to live with.
Leandro Barbosa exploded for all 16 of his points in the fourth quarter, looking like the Brazilian Blur of old. Barbosa clearly can still fill it up off the bench, the kind of player we've been lacking the last several years. Barbosa was basically an afterthought this offseason, signed solely for depth. He showed in his first game in green, however, that he's more than that. He's one of several players we supposedly have who will bring much-needed scoring punch to the second unit.
I say "supposedly" because the other two -- Jason Terry and Jeff Green -- were uniformly awful. Terry's shot was off all night, and when he's not hitting, he's not effective. I'm not worried about him. Green, on the other hand, still worries me. The ball just stops when it gets to him. It's not that he's selfish -- at least, I don't think he is. He honestly looks like he just doesn't know what to do with the ball once he gets it. He's too indecisive, which allows the defense to recover. Even his on-court demeanor is disconcerting -- facially, he looks meek and overwhelmed out there. Given that this is the same stuff I was worried about when I saw him during his first half-season after he came over from Oklahoma City for Kendrick Perkins (he missed all of last year), I'm worried. I'm not hitting the panic button yet, but I'm worried.
Not to alarm anyone, but I didn't think that KG looked right. Nothing noticeable like a limp; it simply looked like that he maybe didn't have his legs under him yet. Hopefully, that's all it is. But he was mostly a non-factor on offense, and he let Chris Bosh beat him for a huge bucket down the stretch after the Celtics had cut the lead to four. Boston would do well to remember how effective Garnett was offensively last year against Miami in the Eastern Conference finals. Even when we're playing small-ball, we shouldn't forget the favorable matchups we might have underneath.
Brandon Bass turned in a typical Brandon Bass game. And that's a good thing.
Pierce had a strong first half but faltered a bit in the second. He looked like a different player than the one who limped to the finish line last year. It sounds like he doesn't have any lingering injuries.
Due to the unique circumstances of the game, rookie Jared Sullinger didn't get a lot of action in his regular season NBA debut. I didn't see much to report on, other than I think he found himself in a switch situation matched up against James, and he actually forced James into a jumper. Given that defense is the biggest concern around Sullinger (well, that and his health), I'd consider this a good sign, too.
Two other quick notes. First, Wade said that Rondo's flagrant foul on him in the waning seconds was a "punk move." That's up for the individual to decide; Rondo did get him around the head and neck area from behind. Either way, though, I find it ironic that Wade would speak out, given that he basically did the same thing to Kobe Bryant last year -- in the All-Star game (breaking Kobe's nose in the process). And isn't it some fundamental principle of basketball that if you take the ball to the basket in the waning seconds of a game you already have in hand, against perhaps your chief rival, you're gonna get hit?
Secondly, damn you, Ray Allen, for making it so hard to quit you. After saying all the wrong things in the weeks leading up to the game, he said all the right things in the post-game interview with Craig Sager. I was all set to write him off, and then he has to go and talk about how much he loves his former teammates and how he's a New Englander for life. I know I' being played for a sucker here, that he's just telling me what I want to hear. But I guess I'm not ready to hate Ray yet. (Although if he consistently plays as well against us as he did on Tuesday, that day will come soon. Also, how jarring is this? Say it ain't so, Flo!)
Don't despair. It's one game out of 82, and we have a lot of new pieces to integrate. Plus, at least we're not the Lakers, who marked the debut of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash with a listless loss to the Dirk Nowitzki-less Dallas Mavericks.
Milwaukee's up next, on Friday, and their deep front line should be an interesting contrast to Miami's small lineup. That should afford us our first extended look at Sullinger, as well as give an idea of how Doc plans to use Darko Milicic and Jason Collins. (I don't think Chris Wilcox will be ready.) Heck, we might even see Darko in the starting lineup. Anyway, NBA League Pass is running its annual free preview week to start the season, so check this one out. And if you're in the Washington Metro area, we're at the Wizards on Saturday.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Viewing Alert
It's not yet Halloween, but it might as well be Christmas Eve. The long national nightmare is over, and basketball is back. I hardly watched any of the baseball postseason, and my interest in the NFL seems to get weaker every year. These next eight months are what I live for.
Three games on the NBA slate Tuesday night, two on national TV, and one of those includes Boston. I'd like to say it's just another game, Game 1 of 82, but we all know that's not true. It's Boston at Miami on ring ceremony night, when LeBron James and the rest of the Heat receive the treasures the Celtics came within a quarter of denying them last spring. You can bet Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo and especially Kevin Garnett aren't going to like witnessing that.
And, of course, watching right along with them will be Ray Allen -- only he'll be congratulating his new teammates, rather then trying to ruin their night with his old ones. Allen won't start, which means we won't get to see him interact pre-tip -- generally the most cordial moment of an NBA games, when the players get together and bump fists in a mutual show of respect -- with his former brothers, a couple of whom barely will acknowledge his existence. But once he enters the game...well, it's going to be interesting.
There's a basketball game to be played, too, and there are a lot of reasons for Celtics fans to be excited on the eve of the season. Sure, the (new) Big Three era is over, and its memory may be forever tainted for some. But I think we're better this year than we were last year, when we came within just a few minutes of our third, and most surprising, trip to the Finals in the last five years. I haven't been able to make the time to do a full-on season preview, and I'm not going to do that now, but here's a quick viewing guide if you haven't been paying close attention in the offseason.
New faces. Boston's got a lot of these, and the good news is that most of them are passable NBA rotation players. That seems like a small thing, but when you've been reliant on the likes of Keyon Dooling and Marquis Daniels -- both good teammates, to be sure, but of limited effectiveness -- it's a nice luxury to have. Courtney Lee, Jason Terry, and Leandro Barbosa will bolster the backcourt, while rookie Jared Sullinger joins journeymen Darko Milicic and Jason Collins as new faces up front. And all eyes will of course be on Jeff Green, who has recovered, thankfully, from the heart problems that kept him out last season. In a vacuum, Green isn't worth what the Celtics are paying him over the next four years, but it's money they couldn't have used elsewhere this season. So as long as Green looks even decent in the early-going (and he was impressive at times in the preseason) that should keep the pressure off of him until Pierce and Garnett leave and the Celtics are trying to building around him and Rondo.
New style? I only watched one preseason game (the blowout of New Jersey) but I was struck by just how fast Boston's pace was. Rondo is always looking to run, but last year in particular, he didn't have anyone to run with him. That'll change this year, at least for as long as he's paired with Lee. (The presumptive starter at shooting guard, Avery Bradley, is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.) Lee likes to get out on the break, and I'd expect a lot of two-on-ones and one-on-zeroes for him -- at least early in the season. Rondo was looking for his own a bit more than usual in the game I saw, to mixed reviews. I like that he's looking for his offense more, but for as long as he's a poor jump shooter, he's always going to have however many open 15-footers he wants. He needs to be discriminating and not take them early in the shot clock with no rebounders.
New rotations. Part of the reason Boston couldn't run that much in the past is that they didn't have the horses -- or even the bodies, really -- to play at that pace and preserve the aging legs of Pierce, Garnett, and Allen (something that may have made the difference in the playoffs). Now we do, but with all that depth comes Doc Rivers' responsibility to define roles and find minutes for everyone. Doc's already announced that he will use three starting lineups, which is a little terrifying given that managing minutes and lineups is his weak suit as a head coach. But there's no denying that the possibilities are exciting, with Doc able to go big or small according to matchups, or to ride the hot hand on offense, or field a lockdown defensive team -- whatever he wants.
8 p.m. Eastern on TNT. The only excuse for missing it is not having power.
Three games on the NBA slate Tuesday night, two on national TV, and one of those includes Boston. I'd like to say it's just another game, Game 1 of 82, but we all know that's not true. It's Boston at Miami on ring ceremony night, when LeBron James and the rest of the Heat receive the treasures the Celtics came within a quarter of denying them last spring. You can bet Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo and especially Kevin Garnett aren't going to like witnessing that.
And, of course, watching right along with them will be Ray Allen -- only he'll be congratulating his new teammates, rather then trying to ruin their night with his old ones. Allen won't start, which means we won't get to see him interact pre-tip -- generally the most cordial moment of an NBA games, when the players get together and bump fists in a mutual show of respect -- with his former brothers, a couple of whom barely will acknowledge his existence. But once he enters the game...well, it's going to be interesting.
There's a basketball game to be played, too, and there are a lot of reasons for Celtics fans to be excited on the eve of the season. Sure, the (new) Big Three era is over, and its memory may be forever tainted for some. But I think we're better this year than we were last year, when we came within just a few minutes of our third, and most surprising, trip to the Finals in the last five years. I haven't been able to make the time to do a full-on season preview, and I'm not going to do that now, but here's a quick viewing guide if you haven't been paying close attention in the offseason.
New faces. Boston's got a lot of these, and the good news is that most of them are passable NBA rotation players. That seems like a small thing, but when you've been reliant on the likes of Keyon Dooling and Marquis Daniels -- both good teammates, to be sure, but of limited effectiveness -- it's a nice luxury to have. Courtney Lee, Jason Terry, and Leandro Barbosa will bolster the backcourt, while rookie Jared Sullinger joins journeymen Darko Milicic and Jason Collins as new faces up front. And all eyes will of course be on Jeff Green, who has recovered, thankfully, from the heart problems that kept him out last season. In a vacuum, Green isn't worth what the Celtics are paying him over the next four years, but it's money they couldn't have used elsewhere this season. So as long as Green looks even decent in the early-going (and he was impressive at times in the preseason) that should keep the pressure off of him until Pierce and Garnett leave and the Celtics are trying to building around him and Rondo.
New style? I only watched one preseason game (the blowout of New Jersey) but I was struck by just how fast Boston's pace was. Rondo is always looking to run, but last year in particular, he didn't have anyone to run with him. That'll change this year, at least for as long as he's paired with Lee. (The presumptive starter at shooting guard, Avery Bradley, is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.) Lee likes to get out on the break, and I'd expect a lot of two-on-ones and one-on-zeroes for him -- at least early in the season. Rondo was looking for his own a bit more than usual in the game I saw, to mixed reviews. I like that he's looking for his offense more, but for as long as he's a poor jump shooter, he's always going to have however many open 15-footers he wants. He needs to be discriminating and not take them early in the shot clock with no rebounders.
New rotations. Part of the reason Boston couldn't run that much in the past is that they didn't have the horses -- or even the bodies, really -- to play at that pace and preserve the aging legs of Pierce, Garnett, and Allen (something that may have made the difference in the playoffs). Now we do, but with all that depth comes Doc Rivers' responsibility to define roles and find minutes for everyone. Doc's already announced that he will use three starting lineups, which is a little terrifying given that managing minutes and lineups is his weak suit as a head coach. But there's no denying that the possibilities are exciting, with Doc able to go big or small according to matchups, or to ride the hot hand on offense, or field a lockdown defensive team -- whatever he wants.
8 p.m. Eastern on TNT. The only excuse for missing it is not having power.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Busy Week
I'm back home after a long golf weekend in Louisville and then a quick trip to Vegas to see a good friend and check out some summer league basketball. I am, quite frankly, exhausted, and I'm completely daunted by the idea that in a month, I'll be starting in a new job in a new city. It's going to be an even busier few weeks, and so now is probably my best (only?) opportunity to write a bit about the Celtics' offseason.
Boston has had a pretty busy couple of weeks themselves, actually. They sent their summer league squad to both Orlando and Vegas. And then today, they finalized a sign-and-trade deal for Houston's Courtney Lee.
We'll start with Lee, since that's the big news. The problem is that I haven't paid much attention to him during his NBA career. From what I understand, though, everyone is pretty excited about it. He can shoot -- not as well as Ray Allen, but he can shoot -- and he can defend, which was one of Allen's weak spots. And he's 26. That sounds pretty good for four years and $21.5 million, which is the contract we gave him. He'll likely settle into a backup role in the backcourt alongside the newly-acquired Jason Terry, but if Avery Bradley's shoulders haven't healed, he'll begin the season as our starting two-guard, with Terry remaining in the sixth-man role in which he thrived in Dallas.
Lee, while not a star, is clearly an NBA rotation player, and that's something we sorely needed last year. The money's good, so the signing is good. The only other factor to be considered is what we gave up for him, because it was a sign-and-trade. I don't know all the details, and it sounds like Portland is involved somehow, but the bottom line appears to be that we gave up JaJuan Johnson, E'Twaun Moore, Sean Williams, Sasha Pavlovic, and a 2nd-round pick for him.
I don't care about Williams and Pavlovic, two guys who don't fit into anyone's long-term plans. Picks are always nice to have, but what is likely to be a late second-rounder shouldn't at all be a deterrent to add a guy who will be an integral piece to what hopefully is a deep playoff run. That leaves Johnson and Moore, the two kids we took out of Purdue two drafts ago and who played very limited minutes in their first NBA seasons.
The funny thing about this trade from a RwH perspective is that other than Jared Sullinger, the guy I had planned on writing most about based on my observation of one summer league game in Vegas was Moore. I thought Moore was better in the few opportunities he had last season than Johnson was in his, and Moore was clearly the more advanced player against the Bulls in summer league action on Tuesday. Moore was on fire from the outside, but he also did a nice job running the team from the lead guard position. Lee is clearly an upgrade, but I wouldn't have been totally uncomfortable entering the season with Moore as our fourth guard. With that said, the Rockets are reportedly releasing Moore (as a second-round pick in 2011, his contract isn't guaranteed) so I think there's a chance we could eventually get him back, were we so inclined.
As for Johnson, I doubt very much that we'll be regretting this trade a couple of years from now. He's a long, tall kid with good range and athleticism, but he doesn't seem like a guy who is going to develop into a post threat, and as an inconsistent stretch 4 his value is limited. He obviously didn't get much of a chance to make a splash in his one season in green, but there isn't a lot of evidence that he'll be any good down the road.
In other words, I'm pretty happy with this deal. With Lee, Terry, Bradley, and Rajon Rondo, we've got a deep, versatile backcourt that is strong defensively.
Onto the rookies, the only guys now worth talking about at summer league. Kris Joseph didn't do anything to impress, but like most second-rounders, he wasn't likely to be a big part of the team's plans. Fab Melo didn't do anything to alleviate my concerns about him -- he wasn't a disaster, but the only positive thing I can say about him is that he runs the floor better than most guys his size.
That leaves Sullinger. The guy is a load, no question -- he's got a huge lower body. He doesn't necessarily look like an NBA player because his arms aren't defined and he looks a little flabby up top, but you could say the same thing about Charles Barkley and Glen Davis and those guys didn't have any problems from a strength perspective. Sullinger proved all he needed to prove to me with regards to his strength, in fact, by repeatedly holding off Leon Powe in the post and on rebounds. Say what you want about Powe, who was playing for Chicago's summer league squad in an attempt to find an NBA job somewhere, but Celtics fans know how strong he is and how hard he plays. If you are strong enough to handle Powe, you are strong enough to handle just about anyone at the four position.
Offensively, the game I saw was not his best of the summer, but judging his offensive ability on one summer league game would be foolish. Defensively, a big concern with him has been his pick-and-roll defense. I didn't notice him getting exploited, but similarly, defending during summer league and defending a pick-and-roll run by actual NBA players is something else entirely. We'll have to wait-and-see about him, although all the evidence points to him being able to hack it at the NBA level. The other thing that jumped out at me was his second jumpability; he got off the ground a lot more quickly than you'd expect from a guy his size. This had me pretty excited about him being light on his feet, until one of my friends pointed out to me that it's easy to look like you're getting off the ground for your second jump quickly when you don't get up very high on your first jump. I guess we'll have to see about that.
As a quick aside, I did get a chance to watch Royce White, the guy from Iowa State who some Cs fans were excited about before Houston scooped him up. He's a great passer for a guy his size, but nothing else stood out. I was more impressed with Terrence Jones, who the Rockets also took in the first round. Jones is a lot bigger than I thought he was, and he's got very good ball skills for a guy his size. There's still a question about his position, but I have a feeling he's gonna be a nice NBA player for them.
Boston has had a pretty busy couple of weeks themselves, actually. They sent their summer league squad to both Orlando and Vegas. And then today, they finalized a sign-and-trade deal for Houston's Courtney Lee.
We'll start with Lee, since that's the big news. The problem is that I haven't paid much attention to him during his NBA career. From what I understand, though, everyone is pretty excited about it. He can shoot -- not as well as Ray Allen, but he can shoot -- and he can defend, which was one of Allen's weak spots. And he's 26. That sounds pretty good for four years and $21.5 million, which is the contract we gave him. He'll likely settle into a backup role in the backcourt alongside the newly-acquired Jason Terry, but if Avery Bradley's shoulders haven't healed, he'll begin the season as our starting two-guard, with Terry remaining in the sixth-man role in which he thrived in Dallas.
Lee, while not a star, is clearly an NBA rotation player, and that's something we sorely needed last year. The money's good, so the signing is good. The only other factor to be considered is what we gave up for him, because it was a sign-and-trade. I don't know all the details, and it sounds like Portland is involved somehow, but the bottom line appears to be that we gave up JaJuan Johnson, E'Twaun Moore, Sean Williams, Sasha Pavlovic, and a 2nd-round pick for him.
I don't care about Williams and Pavlovic, two guys who don't fit into anyone's long-term plans. Picks are always nice to have, but what is likely to be a late second-rounder shouldn't at all be a deterrent to add a guy who will be an integral piece to what hopefully is a deep playoff run. That leaves Johnson and Moore, the two kids we took out of Purdue two drafts ago and who played very limited minutes in their first NBA seasons.
The funny thing about this trade from a RwH perspective is that other than Jared Sullinger, the guy I had planned on writing most about based on my observation of one summer league game in Vegas was Moore. I thought Moore was better in the few opportunities he had last season than Johnson was in his, and Moore was clearly the more advanced player against the Bulls in summer league action on Tuesday. Moore was on fire from the outside, but he also did a nice job running the team from the lead guard position. Lee is clearly an upgrade, but I wouldn't have been totally uncomfortable entering the season with Moore as our fourth guard. With that said, the Rockets are reportedly releasing Moore (as a second-round pick in 2011, his contract isn't guaranteed) so I think there's a chance we could eventually get him back, were we so inclined.
As for Johnson, I doubt very much that we'll be regretting this trade a couple of years from now. He's a long, tall kid with good range and athleticism, but he doesn't seem like a guy who is going to develop into a post threat, and as an inconsistent stretch 4 his value is limited. He obviously didn't get much of a chance to make a splash in his one season in green, but there isn't a lot of evidence that he'll be any good down the road.
In other words, I'm pretty happy with this deal. With Lee, Terry, Bradley, and Rajon Rondo, we've got a deep, versatile backcourt that is strong defensively.
Onto the rookies, the only guys now worth talking about at summer league. Kris Joseph didn't do anything to impress, but like most second-rounders, he wasn't likely to be a big part of the team's plans. Fab Melo didn't do anything to alleviate my concerns about him -- he wasn't a disaster, but the only positive thing I can say about him is that he runs the floor better than most guys his size.
That leaves Sullinger. The guy is a load, no question -- he's got a huge lower body. He doesn't necessarily look like an NBA player because his arms aren't defined and he looks a little flabby up top, but you could say the same thing about Charles Barkley and Glen Davis and those guys didn't have any problems from a strength perspective. Sullinger proved all he needed to prove to me with regards to his strength, in fact, by repeatedly holding off Leon Powe in the post and on rebounds. Say what you want about Powe, who was playing for Chicago's summer league squad in an attempt to find an NBA job somewhere, but Celtics fans know how strong he is and how hard he plays. If you are strong enough to handle Powe, you are strong enough to handle just about anyone at the four position.
Offensively, the game I saw was not his best of the summer, but judging his offensive ability on one summer league game would be foolish. Defensively, a big concern with him has been his pick-and-roll defense. I didn't notice him getting exploited, but similarly, defending during summer league and defending a pick-and-roll run by actual NBA players is something else entirely. We'll have to wait-and-see about him, although all the evidence points to him being able to hack it at the NBA level. The other thing that jumped out at me was his second jumpability; he got off the ground a lot more quickly than you'd expect from a guy his size. This had me pretty excited about him being light on his feet, until one of my friends pointed out to me that it's easy to look like you're getting off the ground for your second jump quickly when you don't get up very high on your first jump. I guess we'll have to see about that.
As a quick aside, I did get a chance to watch Royce White, the guy from Iowa State who some Cs fans were excited about before Houston scooped him up. He's a great passer for a guy his size, but nothing else stood out. I was more impressed with Terrence Jones, who the Rockets also took in the first round. Jones is a lot bigger than I thought he was, and he's got very good ball skills for a guy his size. There's still a question about his position, but I have a feeling he's gonna be a nice NBA player for them.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
End of an Era
Ray Allen is leaving the Celtics.
After meeting with the Miami Heat on Thursday and leaving without making a decision, Allen's agent confirmed on Friday night that the veteran shooting guard had agreed to sign with the defending champions. It won't be official until next week, but Allen is expected to sign a three-year deal for around $9.5 million.
While it's not completely unexpected, it is still in many ways a head-scratching move. In what is likely to be his final NBA contract, Allen is leaving a significant chunk of change on the table -- Boston's offer was reportedly two years, $12 million. He was rumored to be unhappy with losing his starting spot to Avery Bradley, but he's destined for a bench role with the Heat. (And let's face it: At his age, he and his twice-surgically-repaired ankles could use a few extra minutes on the pine). He (understandably) was upset at being at the center of rumors at the most recent trade deadline, but Boston was reportedly ready to give him a no-trade clause or a trade kicker in his new contract if he wanted one. The Heat probably give him a better chance to win another ring, but let's not forget that a very hobbled Boston team came within a quarter of beating Miami this past postseason -- and has added a couple of weapons in the offseason.
No, Allen to Miami just doesn't add up when you take the above into account -- it's less money for a similar situation, only with a tarnished legacy and legions of betrayed-feeling fans in his wake. There simply has to be more to it. Rumor has it that his fractured and deteriorating relationship with Rajon Rondo (which has been hinted at, without being detailed, in various news reports) played a big role in the decision, but I'm not buying that. Unless Rondo was literally beating Allen up and taking his lunch money, then leaving that kind of cash on the table to sign elsewhere doesn't make sense. You don't give up two-and-a-half mil just because you don't like one of your teammates.
As of this writing, Allen himself hadn't commented yet, and we may or may not ever know the real reason or reason that he decided to sign with the Heat. If I had to guess, I would say it's a little bit of ring-chasing and a whole lot of feeling under-appreciated by the organization. Allen has always been the third member of the Big Three, and from the trade rumors to the rise of Bradley to the offseason signing of Dallas' Jason Terry, Allen's role on the team -- and his ego -- undoubtedly has taken a hit over the last few months.
The kicker, though, is this: Allen apparently wanted three years and $27 million from the Celtics, an amount so misaligned with his on-court value to the team that it was either meant to be a non-starter and he was planning on leaving from the beginning, or he was looking for some sort of "hometown bonus." The former seems unlikely because of how long it took him to make the decision. That leaves the latter, that he wanted to be compensated for his service to the team -- a concept that doesn't seem so outrageous outside the context of professional sports.
Basketball-wise, letting Allen go was a no-brainer for the front office, given his demands. He likely isn't worth the contract we offered him -- he certainly isn't worth an additional year and an additional three million per. And while I have no doubt that the Celtics were sincere in wanting Ray to be part of a four-guard rotation with Rondo, Bradley, and Terry, shooting guard is a position of strength for the team even without him. It'd be great to have another guard, but Bradley and Terry -- and maybe even E'Twaun Moore -- have it covered. Allen wasn't the Allen we're used to last season, and at 37 and twice-operated on, there's a pretty good chance he's not getting back to that level. Indeed, the biggest blow to the Celtics in all of this, in terms of personnel, is that due to league salary rules, the team can't use the money it would have used to re-sign Ray to sign someone else. Last year, the Celtics desperately needed legitimate NBA rotation players, and whoever we get for the veteran's minimum or biannual exception isn't going to make the same impact that Allen would have made. Even if that player actually becomes a productive part of the rotation, we'll still likely be a half-player short of where we'd be with Allen.
That's just the basketball side of things, though, and if there's one thing I hope you've learned from reading this blog, it's that basketball means so much more than putting the ball in the hole more times than the other guys. It's about teamwork, pride, brotherhood, loyalty, disappointment, elation, success, failure ... the list goes on -- a metaphor for life. And this where I stop talking about "Allen," and start talking about Ray.
Although all of the Big Three deservedly get credit for subordinating their own offense for the good of the team and the championship cause over the past five seasons, it is Ray who has made the biggest sacrifice. Kevin Garnett's per-game scoring average has taken approximately the same hit Ray's has during their five years in green, but KG's oversized personality and the credit he gets for the team's defensive identity outshine that dip in production. Paul Pierce had to give up a few shots, and his scoring average dropped a couple ticks correspondingly, but as a career Celtic and the team captain, he is the guy who is announced last during pre-game introductions, and he was the guy who everyone was happiest for when we won the title in 2008. And importantly, he is the guy whose number Doc Rivers has most often called in the closing moments of tight games.
These are big sacrifices for a guy like Ray -- whose identity on the court was built solely on his ability to put the ball in the basket -- to make. And yet he made them -- and more, when Rondo emerged to take some of the spotlight, and still more when Bradley seized his starting spot -- largely without complaint, and with the same unwavering workmanlike effort that shaped his jumper into what is probably the prettiest shot any of us will have the pleasure of seeing.
As you might imagine, there's quite a bit of vitriol on the Internet directed by Boston fans at Ray. People are calling him a traitor -- "Judas Shuttlesworth" is my personal favorite -- and even going so far as to wish further bone spurs upon his tender ankles. Lapse of time will probably temper some of those reactions, but it will be interesting to see how the fans react the first time Miami comes into our barn next season. Boston fans -- hell, sports fans in general -- have a history of reacting negatively to this sort of thing, though the fact that Ray left for less money, and not more money as is usually the case, certainly adds a twist.
Me, I'm not mad at Ray. One of my buddies (who isn't a Celtics fan) asked me earlier this week how I'd feel about Ray if he left Boston to go to Miami. My response was that I'd have no hard feelings, that the organization hadn't exactly shown him loyalty recently, and if he wanted to give up a few million bucks for a little stability, that was fine with me. This was before I had heard about the no-trade clause/trade kicker aspect of his offer from the Celtics -- and, if he truly did have such an offer, that makes me feel a little less warm and fuzzy about this whole thing. But Ray was an unrestricted free agent, and as such, he had the freedom to sign anywhere he was wanted. He owed the organization, and the fans, nothing. (Whether he owed his teammates anything is between him and them.) His decision may be puzzling for all the reasons I already outlined, but it was his to make.
I'm just sad. Sad that I have to hope for Ray to fail. Sad that I won't again see Flo, his mother, wearing a bedazzled replica of his number 20 in the stands of the TD Garden, cheering him on. Sad that I'll never again perform my Ray Allen Big Shot Celebration, gliding backward in my office chair as he rises perfectly for his jumper, then thrusting a fist in the air and yelling "Walter Ray!" (his middle name is Ray) as the ball inevitably snaps through the net.
More than anything, I'm sad that the era is over; that this team that got me to fall back in love with the NBA is no more. Sad that it was finished off not by injury or age or the front office, but from within, while the window was somehow still open. Sad that ubuntu and the bonds of brotherhood are only so strong. Sad to be reminded that, as much as I want it to be, Boston no longer is much different from every other NBA franchise, and that even Celtics fans are, in essence, rooting for laundry.
And if we can squeeze another championship out of the final seasons of Pierce and KG? I'll be sad that Ray won't be around to share in it.
After meeting with the Miami Heat on Thursday and leaving without making a decision, Allen's agent confirmed on Friday night that the veteran shooting guard had agreed to sign with the defending champions. It won't be official until next week, but Allen is expected to sign a three-year deal for around $9.5 million.
While it's not completely unexpected, it is still in many ways a head-scratching move. In what is likely to be his final NBA contract, Allen is leaving a significant chunk of change on the table -- Boston's offer was reportedly two years, $12 million. He was rumored to be unhappy with losing his starting spot to Avery Bradley, but he's destined for a bench role with the Heat. (And let's face it: At his age, he and his twice-surgically-repaired ankles could use a few extra minutes on the pine). He (understandably) was upset at being at the center of rumors at the most recent trade deadline, but Boston was reportedly ready to give him a no-trade clause or a trade kicker in his new contract if he wanted one. The Heat probably give him a better chance to win another ring, but let's not forget that a very hobbled Boston team came within a quarter of beating Miami this past postseason -- and has added a couple of weapons in the offseason.
No, Allen to Miami just doesn't add up when you take the above into account -- it's less money for a similar situation, only with a tarnished legacy and legions of betrayed-feeling fans in his wake. There simply has to be more to it. Rumor has it that his fractured and deteriorating relationship with Rajon Rondo (which has been hinted at, without being detailed, in various news reports) played a big role in the decision, but I'm not buying that. Unless Rondo was literally beating Allen up and taking his lunch money, then leaving that kind of cash on the table to sign elsewhere doesn't make sense. You don't give up two-and-a-half mil just because you don't like one of your teammates.
As of this writing, Allen himself hadn't commented yet, and we may or may not ever know the real reason or reason that he decided to sign with the Heat. If I had to guess, I would say it's a little bit of ring-chasing and a whole lot of feeling under-appreciated by the organization. Allen has always been the third member of the Big Three, and from the trade rumors to the rise of Bradley to the offseason signing of Dallas' Jason Terry, Allen's role on the team -- and his ego -- undoubtedly has taken a hit over the last few months.
The kicker, though, is this: Allen apparently wanted three years and $27 million from the Celtics, an amount so misaligned with his on-court value to the team that it was either meant to be a non-starter and he was planning on leaving from the beginning, or he was looking for some sort of "hometown bonus." The former seems unlikely because of how long it took him to make the decision. That leaves the latter, that he wanted to be compensated for his service to the team -- a concept that doesn't seem so outrageous outside the context of professional sports.
Basketball-wise, letting Allen go was a no-brainer for the front office, given his demands. He likely isn't worth the contract we offered him -- he certainly isn't worth an additional year and an additional three million per. And while I have no doubt that the Celtics were sincere in wanting Ray to be part of a four-guard rotation with Rondo, Bradley, and Terry, shooting guard is a position of strength for the team even without him. It'd be great to have another guard, but Bradley and Terry -- and maybe even E'Twaun Moore -- have it covered. Allen wasn't the Allen we're used to last season, and at 37 and twice-operated on, there's a pretty good chance he's not getting back to that level. Indeed, the biggest blow to the Celtics in all of this, in terms of personnel, is that due to league salary rules, the team can't use the money it would have used to re-sign Ray to sign someone else. Last year, the Celtics desperately needed legitimate NBA rotation players, and whoever we get for the veteran's minimum or biannual exception isn't going to make the same impact that Allen would have made. Even if that player actually becomes a productive part of the rotation, we'll still likely be a half-player short of where we'd be with Allen.
That's just the basketball side of things, though, and if there's one thing I hope you've learned from reading this blog, it's that basketball means so much more than putting the ball in the hole more times than the other guys. It's about teamwork, pride, brotherhood, loyalty, disappointment, elation, success, failure ... the list goes on -- a metaphor for life. And this where I stop talking about "Allen," and start talking about Ray.
Although all of the Big Three deservedly get credit for subordinating their own offense for the good of the team and the championship cause over the past five seasons, it is Ray who has made the biggest sacrifice. Kevin Garnett's per-game scoring average has taken approximately the same hit Ray's has during their five years in green, but KG's oversized personality and the credit he gets for the team's defensive identity outshine that dip in production. Paul Pierce had to give up a few shots, and his scoring average dropped a couple ticks correspondingly, but as a career Celtic and the team captain, he is the guy who is announced last during pre-game introductions, and he was the guy who everyone was happiest for when we won the title in 2008. And importantly, he is the guy whose number Doc Rivers has most often called in the closing moments of tight games.
These are big sacrifices for a guy like Ray -- whose identity on the court was built solely on his ability to put the ball in the basket -- to make. And yet he made them -- and more, when Rondo emerged to take some of the spotlight, and still more when Bradley seized his starting spot -- largely without complaint, and with the same unwavering workmanlike effort that shaped his jumper into what is probably the prettiest shot any of us will have the pleasure of seeing.
As you might imagine, there's quite a bit of vitriol on the Internet directed by Boston fans at Ray. People are calling him a traitor -- "Judas Shuttlesworth" is my personal favorite -- and even going so far as to wish further bone spurs upon his tender ankles. Lapse of time will probably temper some of those reactions, but it will be interesting to see how the fans react the first time Miami comes into our barn next season. Boston fans -- hell, sports fans in general -- have a history of reacting negatively to this sort of thing, though the fact that Ray left for less money, and not more money as is usually the case, certainly adds a twist.
Me, I'm not mad at Ray. One of my buddies (who isn't a Celtics fan) asked me earlier this week how I'd feel about Ray if he left Boston to go to Miami. My response was that I'd have no hard feelings, that the organization hadn't exactly shown him loyalty recently, and if he wanted to give up a few million bucks for a little stability, that was fine with me. This was before I had heard about the no-trade clause/trade kicker aspect of his offer from the Celtics -- and, if he truly did have such an offer, that makes me feel a little less warm and fuzzy about this whole thing. But Ray was an unrestricted free agent, and as such, he had the freedom to sign anywhere he was wanted. He owed the organization, and the fans, nothing. (Whether he owed his teammates anything is between him and them.) His decision may be puzzling for all the reasons I already outlined, but it was his to make.
I'm just sad. Sad that I have to hope for Ray to fail. Sad that I won't again see Flo, his mother, wearing a bedazzled replica of his number 20 in the stands of the TD Garden, cheering him on. Sad that I'll never again perform my Ray Allen Big Shot Celebration, gliding backward in my office chair as he rises perfectly for his jumper, then thrusting a fist in the air and yelling "Walter Ray!" (his middle name is Ray) as the ball inevitably snaps through the net.
More than anything, I'm sad that the era is over; that this team that got me to fall back in love with the NBA is no more. Sad that it was finished off not by injury or age or the front office, but from within, while the window was somehow still open. Sad that ubuntu and the bonds of brotherhood are only so strong. Sad to be reminded that, as much as I want it to be, Boston no longer is much different from every other NBA franchise, and that even Celtics fans are, in essence, rooting for laundry.
And if we can squeeze another championship out of the final seasons of Pierce and KG? I'll be sad that Ray won't be around to share in it.
Friday, June 29, 2012
NBA Draft: Lottery Recap
I've written a long post about the lottery picks from Thursday night on my other blog. You can find it here.
Celtics Draft Report Card
Boston added three guys in Thursday night's draft. Let's talk about them.
With the 21st overall pick, the Celtics grabbed Jared Sullinger, the sophomore power forward out of Ohio State. If you read my pre-draft post, you know much I love this pick.
I said it before, but let me reiterate it now: At the time Sullinger announced he was returning to the Buckeyes after his freshman season, he was projected to be the top pick in the 2011 draft. Now, maybe he would have dropped a bit after individual workouts, and maybe the doctors last year would have found the back problems that they discovered this year, which caused him to fall all the way out of the lottery. But taking solely his basketball ability into account, getting Sullinger at 21 is unprecedented value.
The rub, of course, is his health. Boston's saying that they consider him low risk, particularly given the potential reward, but that's precisely what you'd expect a team to say right after they spent a first-round pick on a guy. For me, though, whether that's true or not doesn't really matter. For his potential at that position, I'd be willing to take on quite a bit more risk.
I'm not a doctor, so enough talk about his injury risk. Obviously, if he can't play, then the following is moot, but here's my brief analysis of Sullinger and how I think he fits in.
At just a tick under 6'8" in bare feet (he measured 6'9" in sneaks), Sullinger seems a bit short to be a consistent NBA low-post threat. But an uncomfortably common topic of conversation during Ohio State broadcasts during his two years at the school was Sullinger's rather ample backside. At 268 pounds, the dude is big, even if he's not tall by NBA power forward standards, and he used that size to average more than 17 points and nearly 10 rebounds across two collegiate seasons. He's one of those guys who produces consistently if unspectacularly, the kind of guy about whom people like to say things like "he just knows how to play." In reality, what that means is that he knows how to use his best asset -- his size -- to score around the basket, despite not being blessed with uncommon height or athleticism. I'd feel very comfortable throwing the ball into the post to him right off the bat.
His interior game is where he's most effective, but he showed improved range his sophomore season, hitting 40% from the college three-point line on about one attempt per game. His ability to step out and hit the jumper should come in handy throughout his NBA career, even if his most immediate role in the offense, given current team construction, is in the pivot.
Sullinger's defense isn't terribly noteworthy -- he wasn't a prolific shotblocker in college and won't be in the pros. His size and strength should keep him from getting pushed around on the low block, however, and one of his great strengths is rebounding -- which translates very well, historically, from college to the pro game.
Boston's roster is in so much flux right now that it's hard to predict how Sullinger might fit in on next year's team. Kevin Garnett is mulling retirement and Brandon Bass declined his player option. Other than JaJuan Johnson, who played sparing in his rookie season, we have no bigs currently under contract. Obviously, if we lose Bass and can't find replacement in free agency, Sullinger could slide right into the starting lineup. Assuming we get both KG and Bass back, Sullinger could conceivably start over Bass or play on the second unit alongside Bass if we find a center to start and let Garnett play his preferred power forward position, but Bass probably isn't re-signing in Boston for a backup's pay. For these reasons, and because I'm convinced that Garnett and Bass are coming back, I think the most likely scenario is that Sullinger becomes the first big off the bench to spell KG.
I've been critical of Doc for his development of rookies in the Big Three era, and for Sullinger to contribute in the short term he'll have to buck the trend of young Celtics not getting much burn until their second year. But Sullinger is perhaps the most NBA-ready rookie Doc has had since coming to Boston in 2004, and certainly the most since Rajon Rondo. I expect that Sullinger will have a big role on next year's Celtics team.
I really can't emphasize enough how excited I am about this pick. If things go our way and Sullinger's back holds up and allows him to have a career of any sort of length, it's the kind of pick that can change a franchise's fortunes.
I'm considerably less excited about Fab Melo, the Syracuse sophomore who Boston took immediately after Sullinger with the 22nd pick. Melo, a native Brazilian, was one of the top centers in the high school class of 2010, and was predicted by many to be the Big East newcomer of the year the following season. He was completely overmatched in his first year of college ball, though, playing around 10 minutes per game and averaging 2.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per contest. He came back for his sophomore season in much better shape and was something of a revelation for the Orange last year, and he declared for the draft after averaging about eight points and six rebounds on a very deep and balanced Syracuse team.
The justification for this pick really rests on two grounds: the potential that made him so highly-touted coming out of high school; and his one NBA-level skill, his shotblocking. I can't speak to the former because I don't follow prep ball on a national level. As for the latter, his 2.9 blocks per game last year are impressive, particularly considering he only averaged around 25 minutes per night.
I've got my concerns, though. Melo is an obvious project on offense -- while he improved his scoring his sophomore year, everything of his that wasn't a dunk looked awkward, like he was lucky it went in. And while I like his shotblocking, I have no idea what kind of defender he'll be in the NBA because he spent his whole college career playing zone -- and not just any zone, but a zone that encourages the opponent to make paint catches and go up with shots; in other words, a zone that facilitates shotblocking. Will Melo be able to hold his own defending an NBA post-up? I have no idea. I do know that he's prone to foul trouble, which isn't a great sign given that he was playing zone. It's not at all clear to me that Melo is any better than Greg Stiemsma.
Of course, when you evaluate a draft pick, you have to take into account not only the player picked, but the opportunity cost of that player -- the players who could have been chosen instead. Sullinger and Melo came at the end of a big man run in the middle of the first round; John Henson, Royce White, Tyler Zeller, Terrence Jones, and Andrew Nicholson all were taken in the seven picks immediately leading up to 21 and 22. The big-man cupboard was getting bare -- only three were selected in the final eight picks of the first round after Boston made its picks. Of those three, Miles Plumlee was a surprise first-rounder; Festus Ezeli was projected a bit later in the first round; and Arnett Moultrie had some character concerns that had him ping-ponging up and down the mock draft boards all season. If Boston was going to take a big, it's not like there were obvious choices available other than Melo, though in retrospect I probably would have preferred Ezeli.
Center is an obvious need for the Celtics. We've got none under contract, and all the ones we have ties to have age or injury concerns, and/or they are career role players. On the other hand, Melo is highly unlikely to make any sort of positive contribution in his rookie season, and center is hardly the only position of need on the Celtics. There were plenty of shooters available when we took Melo, and at the time, I wanted Jeff Taylor, preferring him over his Vanderbilt teammate John Jenkins (a better shooter) mainly due to his size and defensive reputation. A small part of the reason I liked the Sullinger pick in theory was that we had the second first-rounder as a safety valve, something to help ensure that we didn't come out of this draft empty-handed if Sullinger's health becomes a big issue. Melo is a project, and so that risk is still there.
Finally, at 51, we took Melo's college teammate, Kris Joseph. I like the idea of drafting a wing player -- we had addressed the big man issue earlier in the draft, and there weren't any we left on the board that I had strong positive feelings about. We need wings, too, and with the emergence of Avery Bradley and E'Twaun Moore showing flashes of competence during his rookie season -- not to mention the potential return of Ray Allen -- it seemed like small forward was a bigger need than shooting guard. (That might change if Allen leaves and we sign Jeff Green and Mickael Pietrus.) When Detroit grabbed Kim English at 44, I was relatively indifferent about who we got. Darius Johnson-Odom is an NBA level athlete, but he may be too small to guard shooting guards, never mind power forwards; Kevin Jones' motor and rebounding ability make him a little bit intriguing, but he's undersized (and ultimately went undrafted); and Marcus Denmon is a pure scorer who at 6'3" is probably too small for our needs. I was a little surprised that Ohio State's William Buford went undrafted, but there's nothing wrong with preferring Joseph over him.
Joseph, by the way, played four years at Syracuse. He appears to me to be a strong leader, the kind of guy who leads by example, and he made a lot of big shots for Cuse over the course of his career. He reminds me a little bit of Paul Pierce, actually; a deceptively athletic slasher who can shoot it a little bit, good rebounder, and at least the potential to be a decent defender. Obviously, I don't think his ceiling is nearly as high as Pierce's turned out to be, but with the 51st pick, you're not really worried about the guy failing to pan out and any positive contribution at all is worth it. With Joseph's experience and polish, he's got a good chance of meeting that minimum standard.
This is allegedly a report card, so I guess I should give a grade. I'll give it a B+. Sullinger is an obvous A, while Melo strikes me as a C; the "+" comes in because, as discussed, I don't really think there were any obvious alternatives to Melo.
Free agency starts Sunday, and it's only then that we'll start to get a picture of what the Celtics are going to look like in 2012-13. KG is the first domino to fall, and his decision will likely determine whether Sullinger is a contributor to another run, or a piece around which to rebuild.
With the 21st overall pick, the Celtics grabbed Jared Sullinger, the sophomore power forward out of Ohio State. If you read my pre-draft post, you know much I love this pick.
I said it before, but let me reiterate it now: At the time Sullinger announced he was returning to the Buckeyes after his freshman season, he was projected to be the top pick in the 2011 draft. Now, maybe he would have dropped a bit after individual workouts, and maybe the doctors last year would have found the back problems that they discovered this year, which caused him to fall all the way out of the lottery. But taking solely his basketball ability into account, getting Sullinger at 21 is unprecedented value.
The rub, of course, is his health. Boston's saying that they consider him low risk, particularly given the potential reward, but that's precisely what you'd expect a team to say right after they spent a first-round pick on a guy. For me, though, whether that's true or not doesn't really matter. For his potential at that position, I'd be willing to take on quite a bit more risk.
I'm not a doctor, so enough talk about his injury risk. Obviously, if he can't play, then the following is moot, but here's my brief analysis of Sullinger and how I think he fits in.
At just a tick under 6'8" in bare feet (he measured 6'9" in sneaks), Sullinger seems a bit short to be a consistent NBA low-post threat. But an uncomfortably common topic of conversation during Ohio State broadcasts during his two years at the school was Sullinger's rather ample backside. At 268 pounds, the dude is big, even if he's not tall by NBA power forward standards, and he used that size to average more than 17 points and nearly 10 rebounds across two collegiate seasons. He's one of those guys who produces consistently if unspectacularly, the kind of guy about whom people like to say things like "he just knows how to play." In reality, what that means is that he knows how to use his best asset -- his size -- to score around the basket, despite not being blessed with uncommon height or athleticism. I'd feel very comfortable throwing the ball into the post to him right off the bat.
His interior game is where he's most effective, but he showed improved range his sophomore season, hitting 40% from the college three-point line on about one attempt per game. His ability to step out and hit the jumper should come in handy throughout his NBA career, even if his most immediate role in the offense, given current team construction, is in the pivot.
Sullinger's defense isn't terribly noteworthy -- he wasn't a prolific shotblocker in college and won't be in the pros. His size and strength should keep him from getting pushed around on the low block, however, and one of his great strengths is rebounding -- which translates very well, historically, from college to the pro game.
Boston's roster is in so much flux right now that it's hard to predict how Sullinger might fit in on next year's team. Kevin Garnett is mulling retirement and Brandon Bass declined his player option. Other than JaJuan Johnson, who played sparing in his rookie season, we have no bigs currently under contract. Obviously, if we lose Bass and can't find replacement in free agency, Sullinger could slide right into the starting lineup. Assuming we get both KG and Bass back, Sullinger could conceivably start over Bass or play on the second unit alongside Bass if we find a center to start and let Garnett play his preferred power forward position, but Bass probably isn't re-signing in Boston for a backup's pay. For these reasons, and because I'm convinced that Garnett and Bass are coming back, I think the most likely scenario is that Sullinger becomes the first big off the bench to spell KG.
I've been critical of Doc for his development of rookies in the Big Three era, and for Sullinger to contribute in the short term he'll have to buck the trend of young Celtics not getting much burn until their second year. But Sullinger is perhaps the most NBA-ready rookie Doc has had since coming to Boston in 2004, and certainly the most since Rajon Rondo. I expect that Sullinger will have a big role on next year's Celtics team.
I really can't emphasize enough how excited I am about this pick. If things go our way and Sullinger's back holds up and allows him to have a career of any sort of length, it's the kind of pick that can change a franchise's fortunes.
I'm considerably less excited about Fab Melo, the Syracuse sophomore who Boston took immediately after Sullinger with the 22nd pick. Melo, a native Brazilian, was one of the top centers in the high school class of 2010, and was predicted by many to be the Big East newcomer of the year the following season. He was completely overmatched in his first year of college ball, though, playing around 10 minutes per game and averaging 2.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per contest. He came back for his sophomore season in much better shape and was something of a revelation for the Orange last year, and he declared for the draft after averaging about eight points and six rebounds on a very deep and balanced Syracuse team.
The justification for this pick really rests on two grounds: the potential that made him so highly-touted coming out of high school; and his one NBA-level skill, his shotblocking. I can't speak to the former because I don't follow prep ball on a national level. As for the latter, his 2.9 blocks per game last year are impressive, particularly considering he only averaged around 25 minutes per night.
I've got my concerns, though. Melo is an obvious project on offense -- while he improved his scoring his sophomore year, everything of his that wasn't a dunk looked awkward, like he was lucky it went in. And while I like his shotblocking, I have no idea what kind of defender he'll be in the NBA because he spent his whole college career playing zone -- and not just any zone, but a zone that encourages the opponent to make paint catches and go up with shots; in other words, a zone that facilitates shotblocking. Will Melo be able to hold his own defending an NBA post-up? I have no idea. I do know that he's prone to foul trouble, which isn't a great sign given that he was playing zone. It's not at all clear to me that Melo is any better than Greg Stiemsma.
Of course, when you evaluate a draft pick, you have to take into account not only the player picked, but the opportunity cost of that player -- the players who could have been chosen instead. Sullinger and Melo came at the end of a big man run in the middle of the first round; John Henson, Royce White, Tyler Zeller, Terrence Jones, and Andrew Nicholson all were taken in the seven picks immediately leading up to 21 and 22. The big-man cupboard was getting bare -- only three were selected in the final eight picks of the first round after Boston made its picks. Of those three, Miles Plumlee was a surprise first-rounder; Festus Ezeli was projected a bit later in the first round; and Arnett Moultrie had some character concerns that had him ping-ponging up and down the mock draft boards all season. If Boston was going to take a big, it's not like there were obvious choices available other than Melo, though in retrospect I probably would have preferred Ezeli.
Center is an obvious need for the Celtics. We've got none under contract, and all the ones we have ties to have age or injury concerns, and/or they are career role players. On the other hand, Melo is highly unlikely to make any sort of positive contribution in his rookie season, and center is hardly the only position of need on the Celtics. There were plenty of shooters available when we took Melo, and at the time, I wanted Jeff Taylor, preferring him over his Vanderbilt teammate John Jenkins (a better shooter) mainly due to his size and defensive reputation. A small part of the reason I liked the Sullinger pick in theory was that we had the second first-rounder as a safety valve, something to help ensure that we didn't come out of this draft empty-handed if Sullinger's health becomes a big issue. Melo is a project, and so that risk is still there.
Finally, at 51, we took Melo's college teammate, Kris Joseph. I like the idea of drafting a wing player -- we had addressed the big man issue earlier in the draft, and there weren't any we left on the board that I had strong positive feelings about. We need wings, too, and with the emergence of Avery Bradley and E'Twaun Moore showing flashes of competence during his rookie season -- not to mention the potential return of Ray Allen -- it seemed like small forward was a bigger need than shooting guard. (That might change if Allen leaves and we sign Jeff Green and Mickael Pietrus.) When Detroit grabbed Kim English at 44, I was relatively indifferent about who we got. Darius Johnson-Odom is an NBA level athlete, but he may be too small to guard shooting guards, never mind power forwards; Kevin Jones' motor and rebounding ability make him a little bit intriguing, but he's undersized (and ultimately went undrafted); and Marcus Denmon is a pure scorer who at 6'3" is probably too small for our needs. I was a little surprised that Ohio State's William Buford went undrafted, but there's nothing wrong with preferring Joseph over him.
Joseph, by the way, played four years at Syracuse. He appears to me to be a strong leader, the kind of guy who leads by example, and he made a lot of big shots for Cuse over the course of his career. He reminds me a little bit of Paul Pierce, actually; a deceptively athletic slasher who can shoot it a little bit, good rebounder, and at least the potential to be a decent defender. Obviously, I don't think his ceiling is nearly as high as Pierce's turned out to be, but with the 51st pick, you're not really worried about the guy failing to pan out and any positive contribution at all is worth it. With Joseph's experience and polish, he's got a good chance of meeting that minimum standard.
This is allegedly a report card, so I guess I should give a grade. I'll give it a B+. Sullinger is an obvous A, while Melo strikes me as a C; the "+" comes in because, as discussed, I don't really think there were any obvious alternatives to Melo.
Free agency starts Sunday, and it's only then that we'll start to get a picture of what the Celtics are going to look like in 2012-13. KG is the first domino to fall, and his decision will likely determine whether Sullinger is a contributor to another run, or a piece around which to rebuild.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Quick Pre-Draft Thoughts
I love the NBA Draft. It's my third-favorite sports day of the year, behind the Saturday before Selection Sunday and the first day of the NCAA Tournament. Thursday night is like Christmas morning for me.
However, for whatever reason, I find myself less and less interested with the whole mock draft scene. There are too many x-factors -- too many trades, too many surprise picks, too many red herrings in the days leading up -- for it to be a meaningful exercise. (Not, I should point out, that I have anything against meaningless exercises.) A couple of people have built dream careers on the Internet out of draft prognostication, and good on 'em. It's just not for me.
So I'm not going to sit here and speculate on who the Celtics are going to take at 21 and 22. To do so would require me to try and guess who gets taken 1 through 20, and that's just too hard once you get past the lottery and into the teens. I do, however, have a couple of things on my wish list.
1. Whatever we do, I hope that we don't trade our two first-round picks to move up just a couple of spots. There are reports that Danny Ainge asked Iowa State power forward Royce White to shut down his workouts, which is basically a promise that we'll take White if he's available when it's our turn to pick. I never know whether to believe these things -- there are enough false reports in the days leading up to every draft to seriously discount just about everything you hear.
Regardless of whether it's true, I think it'd be a big mistake to put all of our eggs in one basket by exchanging our two picks for one slightly better pick. The Celtics have serious personnel needs in both the frontcourt and the backcourt, and this draft is loaded with value all the way down through the first round. I'm not talking about stars, but solid players with potential for very productive NBA careers. If another team snags White before we get a chance to pick him, there are plenty of consolation prizes: Andrew Nicholson, the center from St. Bonaventure; Arnett Moultrie, the rebounding machine from Mississippi State; Jeff Taylor, the sweet shooting wing from Vanderbilt who is one of the best defenders in the draft; trust me, the list goes on and on.
There's something to be said for getting the guy you really want, but White -- or any other player we're likely to try to trade up a few spots to get -- isn't the kind of sure thing that's worth two picks. The obvious counterargument is Rajon Rondo, who Phoenix drafted at 21 on our behalf in the 2006 draft. Ainge saw his guy in Rondo and made the move to get him, and it's obviously worked out incredibly well for the Celtics. But the price for Rondo was relatively cheap -- we basically just bought the pick from the Suns. Passing up the chance to draft another guy who could have a similar impact to White (or whoever) is just too large of a price.
I'm not totally against the idea of a trade, but if we do it, it has to be for the right reasons. And the right reasons are getting an established veteran and/or freeing up cap room for free agency, not moving up to take a guy who may or may not pan out.
2. If Jared Sullinger is available when we pick, I hope we take him. Sullinger was a potential top overall pick after his freshman year at Ohio State, but he chose to return to school for his sophomore season -- after which his draft stock dropped, in part due to a somewhat lackluster year, comparatively, and in part because this draft is perceived to be deeper than last year's was (although last year's class turned out to be rather underrated). Even so, he was a projected in the top ten this year ... until team doctors started examining him and raised questions about his back. These concerns go well beyond the back spasms that caused him to miss some games this past season; we're talking long-term durability issues, concerns of the same kind that ruined the careers of, for example, Greg Oden and Brandon Roy. Teams are worried enough about his health that the league's intel suggests he's likely to fall out of the lottery entirely, and the NBA therefore elected not to invite him to sit in the Green Room during the draft.
Sullinger may well go before we pick, and if he does, it's a moot point. Even if he is available, he's an obvious risk. But Sullinger is a good kid, a hard worker, and a smart basketball player. He's not a monster athlete, but he knows how to score around the basket, and he's a good rebounder. He has some range, too. Some people look at him and see a little bit of Kevin Love in him -- though Love's blossoming into a legitimate star isn't the kind of thing we should project for anyone. But Sullinger possess the kind of talent that is rarely available in the bottom third of the first round, and particularly with back-to-back picks serving as kind of an insurance policy on Sullinger's health, I think it'd be a mistake not to roll the dice with him if the opportunity is there.
Ainge has some history of taking high-potential guys who, for whatever reason, fall in the draft, with mixed results; Avery Bradley (#19 in 2010) turned out well, while Billy Walker (#47 in 2008) didn't. Those guys fell mostly for performance reasons, though, and health issues are a different ballgame. Still, it's a risk I hope we have the opportunity to take.
However, for whatever reason, I find myself less and less interested with the whole mock draft scene. There are too many x-factors -- too many trades, too many surprise picks, too many red herrings in the days leading up -- for it to be a meaningful exercise. (Not, I should point out, that I have anything against meaningless exercises.) A couple of people have built dream careers on the Internet out of draft prognostication, and good on 'em. It's just not for me.
So I'm not going to sit here and speculate on who the Celtics are going to take at 21 and 22. To do so would require me to try and guess who gets taken 1 through 20, and that's just too hard once you get past the lottery and into the teens. I do, however, have a couple of things on my wish list.
1. Whatever we do, I hope that we don't trade our two first-round picks to move up just a couple of spots. There are reports that Danny Ainge asked Iowa State power forward Royce White to shut down his workouts, which is basically a promise that we'll take White if he's available when it's our turn to pick. I never know whether to believe these things -- there are enough false reports in the days leading up to every draft to seriously discount just about everything you hear.
Regardless of whether it's true, I think it'd be a big mistake to put all of our eggs in one basket by exchanging our two picks for one slightly better pick. The Celtics have serious personnel needs in both the frontcourt and the backcourt, and this draft is loaded with value all the way down through the first round. I'm not talking about stars, but solid players with potential for very productive NBA careers. If another team snags White before we get a chance to pick him, there are plenty of consolation prizes: Andrew Nicholson, the center from St. Bonaventure; Arnett Moultrie, the rebounding machine from Mississippi State; Jeff Taylor, the sweet shooting wing from Vanderbilt who is one of the best defenders in the draft; trust me, the list goes on and on.
There's something to be said for getting the guy you really want, but White -- or any other player we're likely to try to trade up a few spots to get -- isn't the kind of sure thing that's worth two picks. The obvious counterargument is Rajon Rondo, who Phoenix drafted at 21 on our behalf in the 2006 draft. Ainge saw his guy in Rondo and made the move to get him, and it's obviously worked out incredibly well for the Celtics. But the price for Rondo was relatively cheap -- we basically just bought the pick from the Suns. Passing up the chance to draft another guy who could have a similar impact to White (or whoever) is just too large of a price.
I'm not totally against the idea of a trade, but if we do it, it has to be for the right reasons. And the right reasons are getting an established veteran and/or freeing up cap room for free agency, not moving up to take a guy who may or may not pan out.
2. If Jared Sullinger is available when we pick, I hope we take him. Sullinger was a potential top overall pick after his freshman year at Ohio State, but he chose to return to school for his sophomore season -- after which his draft stock dropped, in part due to a somewhat lackluster year, comparatively, and in part because this draft is perceived to be deeper than last year's was (although last year's class turned out to be rather underrated). Even so, he was a projected in the top ten this year ... until team doctors started examining him and raised questions about his back. These concerns go well beyond the back spasms that caused him to miss some games this past season; we're talking long-term durability issues, concerns of the same kind that ruined the careers of, for example, Greg Oden and Brandon Roy. Teams are worried enough about his health that the league's intel suggests he's likely to fall out of the lottery entirely, and the NBA therefore elected not to invite him to sit in the Green Room during the draft.
Sullinger may well go before we pick, and if he does, it's a moot point. Even if he is available, he's an obvious risk. But Sullinger is a good kid, a hard worker, and a smart basketball player. He's not a monster athlete, but he knows how to score around the basket, and he's a good rebounder. He has some range, too. Some people look at him and see a little bit of Kevin Love in him -- though Love's blossoming into a legitimate star isn't the kind of thing we should project for anyone. But Sullinger possess the kind of talent that is rarely available in the bottom third of the first round, and particularly with back-to-back picks serving as kind of an insurance policy on Sullinger's health, I think it'd be a mistake not to roll the dice with him if the opportunity is there.
Ainge has some history of taking high-potential guys who, for whatever reason, fall in the draft, with mixed results; Avery Bradley (#19 in 2010) turned out well, while Billy Walker (#47 in 2008) didn't. Those guys fell mostly for performance reasons, though, and health issues are a different ballgame. Still, it's a risk I hope we have the opportunity to take.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Miami 101, Boston 88
[recap] [box score]
What do you say after your team lays it all on the line in the biggest game of the season, only to come up short? Nothing, it turns out. Instead, you go down to your local Boston bar to have a beer among sympathetic friends and fellow fans.
And what do you say after more than one of those beers and a sack full of fast food? Nothing, it turns out. Instead, you go to sleep, if you can.
And what do you say the morning after? Not much, it turns out.
I owe these Celtics a long post for the glorious, unexpected playoff run they just took us on. I don't seem to have it in me at the moment, though.
I'm disappointed. I wonder what might have happened had Doc switched Brandon Bass off of LeBron James in the fourth quarter. I wonder what might have happened had we made a couple open looks in the second half and Chris Bosh hadn't made three three-pointers and James hadn't thrown in that 30-footer. I wonder what might have happened had Avery Bradley, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce had been healthy.
But then I remember what James did to the Celtics in Game 6 with Pierce on him. I remember that young legs tend to make more shots than older ones, especially as the season nears its end. I remember that had Bosh been healthy for the whole series, there might not have been a Game 7. Hell, if Derrick Rose were healthy, there probably wouldn't have been a Game 1.
I'm disappointed, even though I shouldn't be. Unlike 2010, it doesn't feel like we gave anything away. What's difficult is that an upset of the Heat would have been so satisfying that it was hard not to fall in love with the idea of it. And so, with that result seemingly in reach just a couple of days ago -- or even just a few hours ago -- it's disappointing that we couldn't achieve it.
But I would never ask for more than the effort.
What do you say after your team lays it all on the line in the biggest game of the season, only to come up short? Nothing, it turns out. Instead, you go down to your local Boston bar to have a beer among sympathetic friends and fellow fans.
And what do you say after more than one of those beers and a sack full of fast food? Nothing, it turns out. Instead, you go to sleep, if you can.
And what do you say the morning after? Not much, it turns out.
I owe these Celtics a long post for the glorious, unexpected playoff run they just took us on. I don't seem to have it in me at the moment, though.
I'm disappointed. I wonder what might have happened had Doc switched Brandon Bass off of LeBron James in the fourth quarter. I wonder what might have happened had we made a couple open looks in the second half and Chris Bosh hadn't made three three-pointers and James hadn't thrown in that 30-footer. I wonder what might have happened had Avery Bradley, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce had been healthy.
But then I remember what James did to the Celtics in Game 6 with Pierce on him. I remember that young legs tend to make more shots than older ones, especially as the season nears its end. I remember that had Bosh been healthy for the whole series, there might not have been a Game 7. Hell, if Derrick Rose were healthy, there probably wouldn't have been a Game 1.
I'm disappointed, even though I shouldn't be. Unlike 2010, it doesn't feel like we gave anything away. What's difficult is that an upset of the Heat would have been so satisfying that it was hard not to fall in love with the idea of it. And so, with that result seemingly in reach just a couple of days ago -- or even just a few hours ago -- it's disappointing that we couldn't achieve it.
But I would never ask for more than the effort.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Thoughts in Advance of Game 7
Lately, my recap posts seem to be focusing on the intangibles; the story, rather than the Xs and Os. The Celtics' resilience and LeBron James' ability to rise to the occasion will no doubt play a part in determining who wins Saturday night, but there's actual basketball to be played, too. I want to spend a few minutes talking a little bit about some "basketball things" that I've got my mind on heading into Game 7. They're in no real order.
1. Paul Pierce is due for a big game. We showered him with praise after he that dagger in Game 5, so it's fair to say that he was awful in Game 6. I'm inclined to forgive him more for the defensive end (no one was stopping LeBron in that one) than for the offensive end, where he shot 4 for 18, including missed layups and clanged jumpers. The problem is that Pierce really hasn't been very good all series, with just two games of shooting that could even be considered decent. Given the shots he's getting, and missing, I assume that it's his knee, and I'm not bringing this up to criticize him. Rather, I mention it to say that anyone who expects him to come to our rescue with a huge game akin to Cleveland in 2008 is probably going to be disappointed.
2. With that said, Pierce is still a key component to our offense and one of the game's most clutch performers. To that end, we need to figure out a way to keep him on the floor. He's fouled out twice this series (in addition to getting DQ'd from Game 7 against Philly), and he picked up 3 fouls in the first half of Game 6. He's had success guarding James in the past, and he hasn't gotten any favors from the officials, but I think it's clear that the knee is hampering his performance on that end, as well, just as you'd expect it to. Some of this is on Pierce, who needs to play smart and not take bad fouls, but some of it is also on Doc. If you're willing to let Mickael Pietrus and Marquis Daniels and even Brandon Bass check James when Pierce is out of the game, then you have to be willing to put one of those guys on him to protect Pierce when he's in the game. For example, in Game 6, when Pierce came back into the game in the second quarter with two fouls, he went right back on James, picked up his third foul with like six minutes to go, and had to sit the rest of the half. To start the third, Doc put Bass on James, ostensibly to protect Pierce. But by waiting until Pierce was already in serious foul trouble before making a move, Doc kept Pierce off the court for a big chunk of the second quarter. The key is to start protecting him before it affects his playing time.
3. We only saw a possession or two of zone in Game 6, and absent truly exigent circumstances, I hope that means we've seen the last of it in this series. Miami was reasonably effective scoring against the zone in Game 5; what worked is that Boston was changing defenses and disguising what they were running, and that led to confusion and some wasted possessions when we went back to man-to-man. The element of surprise is gone, however, and Miami not only is ready for the zone, they are ready for us to switch it up. That particular trick isn't going to work anymore, and the zone itself isn't effective enough on its own.
4. Rajon Rondo has to be aggressive. He is charged with a nearly impossible task; he's the only Celtic who is able to consistently get easy baskets for himself, and yet he also has to get the other guys going, too. What Rondo must realize is that his offense opens up the floor for everyone else; when he is penetrating and getting into the lane, shots open up for others, whether it's Kevin Garnett on the pick and roll, Garnett and Bass on the pick-and-pop, or Pierce and Ray Allen spotting up along the perimeter. It's fine to run a few plays for Pierce and Allen early to try and get them a few jumpers, but if that isn't working, Rondo needs to shoulder a heavier scoring load himself, quickly. We can't afford to waste half a quarter trying to get the other guys going. If Rondo's attacking, then the rest of the offense should establish itself.
5. We need something from the bench. While a performance like the one we got from Pietrus in Game 5 would be nice, something to that degree isn't even necessary. I expect Rondo to play the full 48 minutes, and I expect that James will, as well. But Garnett won't, and neither will Pierce and Allen. Pietrus, Daniels, and Keyon Dooling must play their usual strong defense while scoring at least enough to keep us in striking distance.
6. I don't think that home court advantage will affect the players; we've played our two best games of the series in Miami's barn. I do worry that the home crowd will affect the refs. Officiating played a huge role in Boston's Game 2 loss. While I don't know who is assigned to Game 7, I do know that I don't want to see Eddie Malloy or Billy Kennedy, two officials who have shown anti-Boston proclivities and who seem overmatched by big games. And regardless of who is officiating, the players need to put any bad calls behind them quickly.
7. Finally, Boston must be resilient. Miami is a strong defensive team with a couple remarkably talented offensive players. It's nearly impossible to play a game against the Heat without them going on a couple of six- or eight-point runs. The key will be preventing them from turning those spurts into 12- and 14-point surges. Boston can win this game if they are down a few points entering the fourth quarter, but if they're down double-digits after the third, the task may be too hard. The Celtics were resilient in Game 5, and it paid off; Boston stayed in it when things weren't going right in the first half, then made their run when the shots started falling in the third quarter. They were resilient in Game 6, too; the difference is that we couldn't get anything to fall even as we continued to hang around. As long as we stay resilient, then we'll have a great shot at this. Fortunately, staying resilient is one of the things we do best.
Game 7 starts at 8:30 Eastern on ESPN. Let's do this!
1. Paul Pierce is due for a big game. We showered him with praise after he that dagger in Game 5, so it's fair to say that he was awful in Game 6. I'm inclined to forgive him more for the defensive end (no one was stopping LeBron in that one) than for the offensive end, where he shot 4 for 18, including missed layups and clanged jumpers. The problem is that Pierce really hasn't been very good all series, with just two games of shooting that could even be considered decent. Given the shots he's getting, and missing, I assume that it's his knee, and I'm not bringing this up to criticize him. Rather, I mention it to say that anyone who expects him to come to our rescue with a huge game akin to Cleveland in 2008 is probably going to be disappointed.
2. With that said, Pierce is still a key component to our offense and one of the game's most clutch performers. To that end, we need to figure out a way to keep him on the floor. He's fouled out twice this series (in addition to getting DQ'd from Game 7 against Philly), and he picked up 3 fouls in the first half of Game 6. He's had success guarding James in the past, and he hasn't gotten any favors from the officials, but I think it's clear that the knee is hampering his performance on that end, as well, just as you'd expect it to. Some of this is on Pierce, who needs to play smart and not take bad fouls, but some of it is also on Doc. If you're willing to let Mickael Pietrus and Marquis Daniels and even Brandon Bass check James when Pierce is out of the game, then you have to be willing to put one of those guys on him to protect Pierce when he's in the game. For example, in Game 6, when Pierce came back into the game in the second quarter with two fouls, he went right back on James, picked up his third foul with like six minutes to go, and had to sit the rest of the half. To start the third, Doc put Bass on James, ostensibly to protect Pierce. But by waiting until Pierce was already in serious foul trouble before making a move, Doc kept Pierce off the court for a big chunk of the second quarter. The key is to start protecting him before it affects his playing time.
3. We only saw a possession or two of zone in Game 6, and absent truly exigent circumstances, I hope that means we've seen the last of it in this series. Miami was reasonably effective scoring against the zone in Game 5; what worked is that Boston was changing defenses and disguising what they were running, and that led to confusion and some wasted possessions when we went back to man-to-man. The element of surprise is gone, however, and Miami not only is ready for the zone, they are ready for us to switch it up. That particular trick isn't going to work anymore, and the zone itself isn't effective enough on its own.
4. Rajon Rondo has to be aggressive. He is charged with a nearly impossible task; he's the only Celtic who is able to consistently get easy baskets for himself, and yet he also has to get the other guys going, too. What Rondo must realize is that his offense opens up the floor for everyone else; when he is penetrating and getting into the lane, shots open up for others, whether it's Kevin Garnett on the pick and roll, Garnett and Bass on the pick-and-pop, or Pierce and Ray Allen spotting up along the perimeter. It's fine to run a few plays for Pierce and Allen early to try and get them a few jumpers, but if that isn't working, Rondo needs to shoulder a heavier scoring load himself, quickly. We can't afford to waste half a quarter trying to get the other guys going. If Rondo's attacking, then the rest of the offense should establish itself.
5. We need something from the bench. While a performance like the one we got from Pietrus in Game 5 would be nice, something to that degree isn't even necessary. I expect Rondo to play the full 48 minutes, and I expect that James will, as well. But Garnett won't, and neither will Pierce and Allen. Pietrus, Daniels, and Keyon Dooling must play their usual strong defense while scoring at least enough to keep us in striking distance.
6. I don't think that home court advantage will affect the players; we've played our two best games of the series in Miami's barn. I do worry that the home crowd will affect the refs. Officiating played a huge role in Boston's Game 2 loss. While I don't know who is assigned to Game 7, I do know that I don't want to see Eddie Malloy or Billy Kennedy, two officials who have shown anti-Boston proclivities and who seem overmatched by big games. And regardless of who is officiating, the players need to put any bad calls behind them quickly.
7. Finally, Boston must be resilient. Miami is a strong defensive team with a couple remarkably talented offensive players. It's nearly impossible to play a game against the Heat without them going on a couple of six- or eight-point runs. The key will be preventing them from turning those spurts into 12- and 14-point surges. Boston can win this game if they are down a few points entering the fourth quarter, but if they're down double-digits after the third, the task may be too hard. The Celtics were resilient in Game 5, and it paid off; Boston stayed in it when things weren't going right in the first half, then made their run when the shots started falling in the third quarter. They were resilient in Game 6, too; the difference is that we couldn't get anything to fall even as we continued to hang around. As long as we stay resilient, then we'll have a great shot at this. Fortunately, staying resilient is one of the things we do best.
Game 7 starts at 8:30 Eastern on ESPN. Let's do this!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
